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, 


THE  LIVING  PULPIT, 

OR 

EIGHTEEN    SERMONS 

BY    EMINENT    LIVING    DIVINES 

OF 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH, 

WITH 

A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE   EDITOR, 

BY   GEO.   W.    BETHUNE,   D.  D. 

EDITED   AND   PUBLISHED 

BY    REV.    ELIJAH* WILSON. 

THIRD    EDITION. 

PHILADELPHIA: 

FOR  SALE  BY  WM.  S.   M  ARTIE  N, 

No.   144   CHESTNUT  STREET. 

AND  BY  SMITH  &  ENGLISH,  36  NORTH  SIXTH  STREET. 

18  53. 

Stereotyped  by  Slote    &   Mooney,  Philadelphia. 
C.    Sherman,  Printer. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

The    Folly   or   Doubting    the  Execution    op   God's 
Threatenings, 1 

By  Rev.  E.  Wilson,  Editor. 

Worth  of  the  Soul, 21 

By  J.  T.  Smith,  D.D. 

The  Faithful  Saying, 44 

By  Willis  Lord,  D.  D. 

The  Ruling  Passion,    .        .        .        ••     .  •        •        .63 

By  W.  B.  Sprague,  D.D. 

Supremacy  of  the  Moral  Law, 93 

By  J.  W.  Yeomans,  D.D. 

Distrust  of  the  Word, 109 

By  J.  W.  Alexander,  D.D. 

Consistency  of  the  Divine  Government.    .        .        .  129 

By  Geo.  Junkin,   D.  D. 

Efficiency  of  Christian  Principle,     ....  157 

By  Thos.  Smyth,  D.D. 

The  Good  Man, 174 

By  John  M'Dowell,  D.  D. 

The  House  of  God, 188 

By  W.  A.  Scott,  D.  D. 

(Ill) 


IV  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Perpetuity  op  the  Church, 225 

By  J.  C.  Lord,  D.  D. 

Seeing  Things  Invisible, 249 

By  J.  II.  Jones,  D.  D. 

Christ  the  Life  of  his  People, 263 

By  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D. 

Faith  and  Sight  Contrasted, 299 

By  A.  T.  M'Gill,  D.  D. 

Catholicity  of  the  Gospel, 319 

By  Chas.  Hodge,  D.  D. 

Christian  Submission, 337 

By  H.  A.  Boardman,  D.  D. 

The  Prodigal, 353 

By  John  Leyburn,  D.  D. 

The  Tree  Known  by  its  Fruits,  ....  37-4 

By  E.  P.  Humphrey,  D.  D. 


PREFACE. 


In  presenting  the  Living  Pulpit  to  the  Public,  the  Editor  feels 
that  no  apology  is  needed.  The  book  presents  a  collection  of  Ser- 
mons by  some  of  the  most  eminent  living  divines  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  whose  names  are  a  sufficient  guaranty  that  the 
matter  is  essential  truth,  presented  in  the  most  attractive  form. 

The  Sermons  were  furnished  at  the  request  of  the  Editor  ex- 
pressly for  this  volume,  and  are  practical  and  didactic. 

The  design  of  the  publication  will  be  fully  seen  by  a  reference 
to  the  biographical  sketch  of  the  Editor,  prepared  by  George  W. 
Bethune,  D.  D. 

Whilst  the  Editor,  in  common  with  others  engaged  in  the  dis- 
semination of  divine  truth  by  the  agency  of  the  press,  expects  a 
pecuniary  compensation  for  his  labours,  yet  he  trusts  that  his 
efforts  in  this  department  will  meet  with  the  approbation  of  Zion's 
King,  and  be  abundantly  blessed  by  Him  to  the  promotion  of  his 
own  glory,  in  the  salvation  of  souls. 

(v) 


VI  PREFACE. 

Should  this  volume  meet  with  public  favour,  it  may  he  fol- 
lowed by  similar  productions  from  eminent  divines  of  other 
denominations. 

The  Editor  would  here  most  gratefully  acknowledge  his  indebted- 
ness to  his  brethren,  for  their  kindness  and  courtesy  in  furnishing 
their  valuable  contributions  for  the  work :  and  hopes  that  in  the 
developments  of  eternity  multitudes  will  be  found  before  the 
throne  of  God,  who  were  encouraged  in  their  Christian  course, 
or  first  directed  to  the  Saviour,  by  these  Sermons,  and  who  will 
there  rejoice  with  the  authors  over  the  hallowed  influence  of  the 

Living  Pulpit. 

E.  W. 

Philadelphia,  Oct  1st,  1852. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH 


OF 


THE    EDITOR. 


BY   GEO.   W.   BETHUNE,    D.    D. 


The  severe  trials  of  the  Rev.  Elijah  Wilson,  and  the 
Christian  patience  with  which  he  has  struggled  through 
them  to  usefulness,  have  won  for  him  the  sympathy  and 
affectionate  respect  of  many  friends.  As  another  method 
of  doing  good,  and  at  the  same  time  of  honourably  meeting 
unavoidable  claims  on  his  exertions,  he  has  been  led  to 
publish  this  volume.  The  names  of  the  good  and  able  men 
who  have  cheerfully  assisted  his  design,  by  contributing 
Discourses,  give  the  best  proof  of  the  estimation  in  which 
he  is  held,  and  of  the  profit  to  be  expected,  under  the  Divine 
blessing,  from  the  reading  of  the  book.  A  slight  sketch 
of  his  history  may  not  be  an  uninteresting  preface. 

He  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  the  only  child  of  James  and 
Mary  Wilson;  His  paternal  grand  parents  were  of  Scotch- 
Irish  blood,  and  came  to  this  country  a  short  time  before 
the  American  Revolution,  settling  first  in  Haddonfield,  New 
Jersey,  but  soon  removing  to  Philadelphia,  where  James,  the 
father  of  Elijah,  was  born  in  1774. 

His  grand  parents  on  the  other  side,  whose  name  was 
Thomas,  came  from  Wales  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
settled  on  a  farm  in  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania, 
where  Mary,  their  only  child,  was  born  about  1788,  and,  at 
the  age  of  22,  married  to  Mr.  Wilson,  who  carried  her  to 
Philadelphia,  in  which  city  they  spent  their  subsequent  days. 

Mr.   Wilson's   family  were   Episcopalians,   but,   for  the 

(Tii) 


Vlll  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF    THE    EDITOR. 

greater  part  of  his  life,  he  preferred  worshipping  with  Pres- 
byterians, though  he  never  became  a  communicant.  Mrs. 
Wilson  continued  in  the  principles  of  her  parents,  who  be- 
longed to  the  society  of  Friends  ;  but  her  views  of  Christian 
doctrine  were  highly  evangelical,  and  she  strongly  inculcated 
the  truths  of  the  Gospel  on  the  growing  mind  of  her  son, 
whose  delicate  health  during  boyhood  brought  him  more 
closely  under  her  happy  care  and  pious  teachings. 

From  his  early  years  Elijah  was  noted  for  an  active, 
inquiring  mind.  To  a  great  fondness  for  books,  he  added 
not  a  little  mechanical  genius,  and  a  taste  for  art.  This  last 
tendency  was  more  or  less  cultivated  at  different  times,  and 
he  attained  sufficient  skill,  especially  in  landscape  painting, 
to  defray  the  expense  of  his  living  and  education  for  some 
time  after  death  had  deprived  him  (in  his  fifteenth  year)  of 
his  father.  Previously  to  this  his  studies  had  been  inter- 
rupted by  a  severe  dropsical  affection,  from  which,  after  a 
twelvemonth's  suffering,  he  was  providentially  restored  by 
the  skill  of  his  physician,  Dr.  Hays,  of  Philadelphia. 

Undiscouraged  by  such  various  hindrances  and  difficulties, 
he  was  determined  to  have  a  thoroughly  classical  education  ; 
and,  when  about  eighteen,  he  entered  the  Academy  at  Kin- 
derhook,  New  York,  then  under  the  able  superintendence 
of  Mr.  Silas  Metcalf.  At  Kinderhook  it  was  his  privilege 
to  sit  under  the  faithful,  energetic  ministry  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr. 
Sickles,  minister  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  there  ;  and, 
in  the  summes  of  1831,  he  received,  through  the  distin- 
guishing grace  of  God  his  Saviour,  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  He  united  with  the  Church  in  the  following  autumn. 
His  earnest  piety,  ready  talents,  and  thirst  after  knowledge, 
attracted  the  approving  regard  of  Dr.  Sickles,  and  other 
pious  friends,  who  advised  him  to  study  for  the  sacred  min- 
istry ;  which  counsel,  after  much  anxious,  prayerful  delib- 
eration, he  followed,  and  diligently  prepared  himself  for 
College.  In  the  autumn  of  1835  he  was  matriculated  as  a 
member  of  the  Sophomore  Class,  in  Rutgers'  College,  New 
Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  and  prosecuted  his  studies  with 
credit  and  success  for  the  next  twelvemonth,  supporting 
himself  by  his  own  industry,  yet  fully  keeping  up  with  his 
more  favoured  classmates.  But  the  double  tax  upon  his 
enei'gies,  physical  and  mental,  was  too  great  for  a  constitu- 
tion never  strong,  and  shaken  by  former  disease.  His 
nervous  system  being  much  impaired,  he  sought  medical  aid 
without  success ;  yet  continued,  though  feebly  and  at  inter- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF    THE    EDITOR.  ix 

I 

vals,  to  pursue  the  course  of  the  College,  until  towards  the 
Christmas  holidays.  Already,  however,  he  had  had  what 
he  afterwards  knew,  though  not  then,  to  be  the  forebodings 
of  the  darkness  which  has  since  enveloped  his  life.  About 
a  year  before  this  he  lost  his  sense  of  smell,  which  he  has 
never  regained ;  and  in  November,  1836,  when  returning 
alone  from  evening  prayers  in  the  College  Chapel  to  his 
lodgings,  he  was  suddenly  struck  with  total  blindness. 

For  a  little  while  he  paused,  wondering  and  alarmed  in 
the  darkness ;  then  attempted  to  grope  his  way  homeward, 
but  could  not.  He  opened  his  eyes  wide,  but  they  had  no 
sight  ;  after  some  moments  he  turned  his  face  up  to  heaven 
and  saw  the  blue  sky,  though  the  earth  was  veiled  from  him — 
then  the  heavy  curtain  slowly  fell,  and  the  world  again  was 
revealed  to  his  view.  The  sense,  so  strangely  suspended,  had 
returned.  He  reached  home,  but  greatly  enfeebled  by  the 
stroke  to  body  and  mind.  The  next  week,  while  at  his  stu- 
dies, he  again,  and  as  suddenly,  lost  his  sight ;  but  after  a 
few  minutes  it  came  back  to  him  as  before.  Anxious  as  he 
was  in  consequence  of  these  two  attacks,  he  did  not  antici- 
pate so  terrible  a  calamity  as  utter,  unrelieved  blindness; 
but,  though  he  relaxed  his  pursuits,  the  paroxysms  became 
more  and  more  frequent,  until  his  retirement  from  College 
became  necessary.  His  kind  mother  had  been  removed 
from  earth  a  few  years  before  this  trial,  which  was  severely 
aggravated  by  the  loss  of  her  affectionate  care,  and  he 
sought  at  his  second  home,  in  Kinderhook,  for  rest  and  me- 
dical assistance.  The  physicians  whom  he  consulted  on  his 
way  in  New  York,  encouraged  him  to  hope  for  a  cure  when 
his  general  health  should  be  recruited ;  and  at  Kinderhook 
he  had  the  advantage  of  being  under  the  able  treatment  of 
Dr.  Dorr ;  but  his  seasons  of  darkness  continued  to  return, 
his  strength  rapidly  failed,  and,  though  in  the  March  follow- 
ing he  was  somewhat  stronger,  all  objects  were  seen  by  him 
through  a  haze,  which  became  more  and  more  dim,  until  he 
could  not  distinguish  one  thing  from  another.  One  night, 
about  the  close  of  April,  he  went  to  bed  and  slept  soundly ; 
but  on  awaking  in  the  morning  he  saw  no  light.  He  heard 
the  inmates  moving  about  the  house — he  approached  the 
window  of  his  chamber — the  warm  rays  of  the  sun  fell  upon 
his  hands  and  his  face,  but  the  brightness  of  its  beams  were 
not  for  him.  He  was  entirely  blind.  He  hoped,  at  the 
first,  that  the  darkness  would  be  only  temporary  and  partial 
as  before ;  but  never  since  has  he  known  the  pleasantness 


X  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF   TnE   EDITOR. 

of  looking  upon  the  face  of  nature  or  the  smiles  of  friends. 
At  the  high  noon  of  that  sad  day  he  felt  that  the  eclipse  was 
total.  His  spirit  sank  within  him.  He  refused  to  eat  bread, 
and  would  fain  have  died.  He  tried  to  look  up  and  "  see 
Him  who  is  invisible."  He  shut  himself  apart  from  his 
sympathising  friends,  and  bemoaned  himself  in  solitude. 
He  knelt  to  pray,  but  his  very  soul  was  in  darkness,  and  he 
was  constrained  to  cry,  "  My  God  !  my  God  !  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me  ?"  The  only  scripture  which  spake  to  him, 
was  the  melancholy  cry  of  the  anguished  prophet,  "  Is  thy 
mercy  clean  gone  for  ever  ?"  His  agony  of  heart  and  mind 
continued  for  many  days.  He  wrestled  in  prayer  day  and 
night.  His  little  strength  entirely  failed.  A  pain  on  the 
top  of  his  head,  which  he  had  felt  from  the  beginning  of  his 
illness,  became  more  and  more  acute ;  he  lost  for  some  time 
the  sense  of  taste — so  that  those  of  touch  and  hearing  only 
remained  to  him — his  whole  system  was  racked  by  frequent 
convulsions — his  life  was  despaired  of  for  more  than  a  fort- 
night— and,  though  after  that  time  his  spiritual  and  physi- 
cal energies  were  partially  restored  during  a  few  succeeding 
months,  he  fell  back  into  the  same  bodily  distresses  —  but, 
through  the  blessing  of  God,  not  into  the  same  mental  dis- 
tress, during  the  summer. 

The  faithful  skill  of  Dr.  Van  Dyke  was,  however,  re- 
warded by  a  kind  Providence  with  the  entire  restoration  of 
his  general  health,  but  with  no  hope  that  he  would  ever 
again  receive  his  sight. 

It  is  most  pleasing  to  know  that  his  spiritual  faintness 
was  the  consequence  not  of  unbelief,  but  bodily  infirmity ; 
for  when  his  flesh  rose  from  its  weakness,  and  his  brain  re- 
covered soundness,  his  heart  again  delighted  itself  in  God. 
"  The  celestial  light  shone  inward ;"  and  his  buoyant  tem- 
per, animated  by  divine  joy,  showed  itself  superior  to  his 
trials.  This  happy  Christian  courage  has  ever  since  ac- 
companied him,  blessing  his  own  life  with  a  radiance  from 
on  high,  and  shedding  from  his  cheerful,  thankful  example, 
an  edifying  pleasure  upon  all  who  have  had  the  satisfaction 
of  his  society. 

He  still  fondly  clung  to  the  hope  of  prosecuting  his  stu- 
dies, but  his  friends  persuaded  him  from  attempting  it ; 
and  abandoning  his  collegiate  course,  he,  by  their  advice, 
entered  the  Institution  for  the  Blind  at  Philadelphia,  with  a 
view  of  preparing  himself  to  be  a  teacher  of  his  brethren 
in   affliction.      But   with   limited   means   of   improvement, 


4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF    THE    EDITOR.  XI 

through  the  slow  process  of  reading  by  "raised  letters," 
his  ardent  mind  could  not  be  content ;  and  he  remained  at 
the  Institution  only  from  December,  1837,  until  the  follow- 
ing spring.  At  that  time  a  severe  erysipelas  in  his  head 
and  eyes  excited  some  hope  that  a  favourable  change  had 
occurred,  and  that  by  skilful  treatment  his  sight  might  yet 
be  recovered ;  but,  though  he  put  himself  into  the  experi- 
enced hands  of  Drs.  Hays  and  Fox,  of  Philadelphia,  his 
expectations  were  baffled. 

Some  kind  friends  (especially  one  Mr.  W.,  of  New  York, 
for  whose  warm  and  active  regard  he  has  great  reason  to  be 
grateful)  thought  that,  with  the  aid  of  a  partner,  he  might 
succeed  in  some  branch  of  business,  and  had  begun  to  make 
arrangements  to  that  end.  But  the  good  Providence,  which 
had  chastened  his  spirit,  intended  better  things ;  for,  while 
on  his  way  up  the  Hudson  to  visit  Kinderhook,  he  fell  in 
with  the  Rev.  Sylvester  Woodbridge,  then  the  agent  of  the 
Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  who  advised  him  to  go  on 
with  his  studies  for  the  ministry ;  and,  to  encourage  him, 
cited  the  case  of  his  cousin,  the  Rev.  Timothy  Woodbridge, 
Avho  had  become  blind  during  his  collegiate  course,  yet  had 
continued  his  preparation,  and  was  preaching  with  success 
as  the  pastor  of  a  church. 

Mr.  Woodbridge  suggested  that  an  arrangement  might  be 
effected  with  some  theological  students  to  read  the  lessons 
in  which  they  were  engaged  to  him  by  turns.  Mr.  Wilson 
was  favourably  impressed  with  the  plan,  which  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  promised  his  assistance  to  carry  out.  While  await- 
ing Mr.  Woodbridge's  further  communication,  he  was  in- 
vited to  visit  the  home  of  a  college  classmate,  whose  father, 
Captain  John  Steele,  resided  at  Paradise,  Pennsylvania. 
There,  unwilling  to  be  idle,  he  occupied  and  amused  by 
teaching  occasionally  the  two  younger  sons  of  his  hospitable 
entertainer.  Capt.  Steele  was  so  much  pleased  with  the 
rapid  improvement  of  his  boys  under  Mr.  Wilson's  teaching, 
that  he  requested  him  to  act  as  the  private  tutor  of  his  chil- 
dren, which  he  did,  and  taught  the  two  daughters,  as  well  as 
the  two  sons  of  his  host,  with  great  success,  until  the  March 
following,  when  Mr.  Woodbridge  wrote  to  him  that  he  had 
made  the  arrangement,  which  he  had  promised,  for  Mr. 
Wilson's  theological  studies,  at  the  seminary  in  Auburn,  New 
York  ;  and,  not  without  many  spoken  blessings,  accompa- 
nied by  substantial  evidence  of  esteem,  from  Capt.  Steele, 
he  left  the  home  of  that  generous  gentleman,  to  enter  on  his 


Xll  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF    THE    EDITOR. 

course  at  Auburn,  in  April  1839,  and  there  continued  hig 
studies  most  profitably  until  the  spring  of  1841,  practising 
his  gifts  as  a  public  speaker  by  occasional  exhortations  in 
the  religious  meetings  around,  which  were  well  received.  In 
March  of  that  year,  after  a  close  examination,  he  was  regu- 
larly licensed  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Cayuga,  on  which  occasion  he  received  from  the 
members  of  that  revered  body  many  proofs  of  approbation 
and  encouraging  counsel. 

Desirous  of  yet  further  improvement  before  entering  upon 
the  full  labours  of  the  sacred  office,  he,  by  the  advice  of  a 
friend  who  was  studying  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton,  and  who  engaged  to  make  for  him  there  an  ar- 
rangement like  that  by  which  he  had  profited  so  much  at 
Auburn,  he  determined  to  spend  a  year  in  the  school  of  the 
prophets,  under  the  wise  superintendence  of  the  Rev.  Doc- 
tors Alexander,  Miller  and  Hodge.  In  the  meantime,  he 
ventured  to  travel  alone  to  visit  his  hospitable  friend  Capt. 
Steele,  and  preached  frequently  on  the  way ;  every  where 
on  the  road  and  in  the  house  meeting  with  attentive  kind- 
ness. In  September  (having  been  detained  by  an  illness  of 
several  weeks)  he  entered  the  Seminary  at  Princeton,  and 
enjoyed  regularly  the  opportunities  of  his  class  until  May, 
1842,  when  he  was  transferred  from  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick  (to  which  he  had  been  dismissed  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Cayuga)  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  Dela- 
ware, by  whom  he  was  sent,  in  June,  1842,  as  a  stated  sup- 
ply for  the  churches  of  Newark  and  Christiana.  His  ser- 
vices were  so  well  received,  that  those  churches,  in  the 
August  following,  united  in  giving  him  an  unanimous  call, 
and  he  was  installed  as  their  pastor  on  the  12th  of  the  next 
October.  Here  he  was  blessed  in  winning  the  affections  of 
a  most  estimable  and  intelligent  young  lady,  Miss  Ann  Gray, 
daughter  of  Mr.  Andrew  Gray,  of  Chestnut  Hill,  Newark, 
whom  he  married  on  the  29th  of  November  of  the  same 
year.  Their  union  was  eminently  happy.  Mr.  Wilson  con- 
tinued in  the  charge  of  these  churches,  preaching  regularly 
and  doing  the  full  duty  of  a  pastor  for  four  years.  It  is 
but  just  to  say,  that  his  labours  were  owned  of  God  and  the 
Church.  They  were  richly  blessed  ;  scarcely  a  sacramental 
communion  passed  without  the  evidence  of  fruit,  and,  at 
one  time,  a  considerable  revival  crowned  his  preaching  of 
the  Word.  So  much  was  he  strengthened,  notwithstanding 
his  infirmity,  that,  in  the  spring  of  1844,  being  invited  to 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH   OF   THE    EDITOR.  X1U 

assist  the  pastor  of  the  church  at  Wilmington,  he  preached 
for  fourteen  successive  evenings,  labouring  the  while  through- 
out the  day  in  visits  of  exhortation.  This  Mr.  Wilson 
gratefully  remembers  as  a  most  precious  season  of  in- 
gathering, when  "many  souls  were  added  unto  the  Church." 

For  several  reasons,  which  he  considered  sufficient,  and 
his  known  "aptness  to  teach,"  Mr.  Wilson  was  persuaded, 
in  the  spring  of  1845,  to  take  the  superintendence  of  a 
"Female  Seminary,"  at  Newark,  still  retaining  his  pastoral 
care  of  the  two  churches  which  have  been  named.  In  this 
important  school,  about  forty  young  ladies  pursued  a  wide 
range  of  studies,  and  Mr.  Wilson  received  high  testimonials 
from  most  competent  judges,  to  his  fidelity  as  a  preceptor, 
which  was  shown,  at  the  examinations,  by  the  scholars 
themselves.  The  written  certificates  given  to  Mr.  Wilson 
speak  of  this  sufficiently.  His  multiplied  labours  as  a  pas- 
tor of  two  churches  and  active  principal  of  such  a  seminary 
were,  however,  too  much  for  his  strength. 

In  the  spring  of  1846  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his 
pulpits ;  and  in  a  year  or  two  afterwards  he  gave  up  the 
charge  of  the  school,  which  in  the  spring  of  1847  had  been 
moved  to  Wilmington.  About  this  period  of  his  life  the 
Lord  was  pleased  again  to  "bruise  our  brother,  and  put  him 
to  grief,"  visiting  him  with  yet  more  and  yet  more  bitter 
sorrows.  His  pecuniary  fortunes  suffered  from  some  ill-ad- 
vised changes  in  his  school.  Mrs.  Wilson's  health  was  shaken, 
and  various  circumstances  led  them  to  a  more  private  life  in 
the  bosom  of  her  father's  family,  whose  residence  was  now 
at  Wilmington.  He  was  not,  however,  idle,  but  assisted 
Mr.  Gayley  of  the  Wilmington  Academy,  and  preached  to 
a  feeble  Church  which  had  been  begun  in  the  outskirts  of 
the  city. 

Now,  July  1848,  came  upon  him  the  saddest  calamity  of  his 
life.  His  charming  and  devoted  wife  had  been  to  him  in  every 
respect  a  helpmeet,  enlivening  darkness,  cheering  his  labours, 
solacing  his  disappointments.  God  had  given  them  two  fair 
sons,  Andrew  Gray,  (born  December,  1844,)  Chalmers,  (Au- 
gust, 1847.)  Their  domestic  content  was  full  of  sweetness — its 
chief  charm  the  pious,  cultivated,  affectionate,  clear  minded, 
and  strong  hearted  woman,  who  in  every  relation  as  a  daugh- 
ter, wife,  mother,  friend  and  member  of  Christ's  Church,  had 
won  love  from  all  who  knew  her,  but  especially  from  her  blind, 
thankful  husband.  Yet  she  heard  the  voice  of  her  Master 
calling  her  away,  and  died  of  the  typhoid  fever  on  the  eve- 


XIV  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF   THE    EDITOR. 

ning  of  the  10th  of  the  month.  u  She  was  not,  for  God 
took  her."  Mr.  Wilson  sustained,  as  he  could  not  but  be, 
by  the  assurance  of  her  sleep  in  Jesus,  suffered  far  more 
from  the  absence  of  his  bosom's  comforter,  than  he  had  done 
from  the  loss  of  his  sight.  With  her  life,  his  second,  better 
light  went  out.  It  was  the  deepest  gloom  of  midnight  to 
his  heart ;  an  irresistible  melancholy  came  over  his  soul, 
which  the  sympathy  of  affectionate  friends  sought  to  alle- 
viate, but  could  not  chase  away.  He  had  to  go  on  his  way 
blind,  without  the  gentle  hand  to  lead  him,  which,  by  the 
gift  of  God,  had  been  his  ever  careful,  gentle  guide. 

But  the  children  she  had  bequeathed  him  demanded  his 
exertions,  and  the  work  of  his  Lord  his  zeal.  His  long 
tried,  steadfast  Mend,  the  Rev.  S.  M.  Gayley,  was  mindful 
of  him,  and,  by  generous  influence,  obtained  for  him  the 
useful  post  of  assistant  chaplain  to  the  Eastburn  Mariners' 
Church  of  Philadelphia,  the  Rev.  0.  Douglass,  the  pastor 
(since  gone  to  rest),  having  been  compelled,  by  declining 
health,  to  leave  the  main  duties  in  Mr.  Wilson's  hands. 
The  labours  of  Mr.  Wilson  in  this  pleasing  scene  of  mission- 
ary work  were  highly  acceptable  to  the  mariners,  and  those 
who  had  the  superintendence  of  the  church. 

There  he  continued  to  serve,  blessing  and  blest,  until 
early  in  the  spring  of  1849,  when  he  received  a  unanimous 
call  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Wrightsville,  York 
County,  Pennsylvania,  to  become  their  pastor,  which  he 
accepted. 

His  entrance  upon  this  new  sphere  of  exertion  was 
signalised  by  a  copious  rain  of  the  Spirit,  reviving  the 
church,  and  causing  many  plants  of  righteousness  to  spring 
up  within  the  garden  of  the  Lord  from  the  good  seed  of  his 
word.  The  ministry  of  Mr.  Wilson  continued  to  be  highly 
appreciated  by  the  congregation  of  Wrightsville,  and  he 
exercised  it,  notwithstanding  his  physical  disabilities,  with 
ease  and  comfort.  Several  of  his  friends,  however,  with 
whose  judgment  his  own  agreed,  adopted  the  opinion  that 
his  usefulness  might  be  enhanced  by  his  giving  himself  to 
the  spread  of  the  truth  through  the  press ;  and,  in  order  to 
the  making  of  a  full  experiment,  he  resigned  the  pastoral 
charge  of  the  Wrightsville  Church  in  December,  1851, 
though,  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  elders  and  congrega- 
tion, he  still  continues  to  occupy  their  pulpit  as  the  stated 
preacher. 

It  was  Mr.  Wilson's  first  intention  to  publish  some  of  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF   THE   EDITOR.  XV 

own  religious  writings  ;  but  shrinking  from  what  he  modestly 
feared  might  be  thought  undue  presumption,  he  has  deter- 
mined that  his  opening  venture  should  be  with  the  writings 
of  others,  who  are  widely  known  and  approved  throughout 
the  Evangelical  Church  of  this  country.  How  well  he  has 
been  assisted  by  his  fathers  and  brethren,  the  contents  of 
the  present  volume  show.  He  sends  it  forth,  hopeful  of  the 
divine  blessing. 

Such  is  the  simple  story  of  his  afflicted  yet  favoured  life. 
The  general  facts  have  been  taken  down  from  his  own  lips, 
as  he  told  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  his  soul,  and  "  men- 
tioned the  loving  kindness  and  great  goodness"  of  the  angel 
of  the  covenant,  in  leading  him  "  by  ways  which  he  knew 
not,  and  paths  he  had  not  known."  If  some  words  of  affec- 
tionate praise  are  found  threaded  throughout  this  narrative, 
it  is  because  the  writer  of  these  pages  could  not  deny  him- 
self the  expression  of  his  feelings.  They  have  been  written 
under  the  bias  of  a  warm  friendship ;  but  that  warmth  of 
friendship  has  been  the  consequence  of  his  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  Wilson's  character  and  course,  which  have  won  for  him 
a  like  esteem  from  all  who  knew  him. 

No  doubt  the  trials  of  his  experience  induced  a  tender- 
ness of  judgment ;  but  it  is  not  less  certain  that  his  pa- 
tience, and  cheerfulness,  and  courageous  perseverance  compel 
towards  him  a  rare  respect  and  heartfelt  good  wishes.  Nor 
must  it  be  thought  that  this  opinion  of  him  as  a  Christian 
man  and  an  Evangelical  minister,  has  been  formed  only 
when  considering  his  difficulties.  Were  he  not  blind,  he 
would  be  entitled  to  an  equal  estimation.  Pursuing  his 
studies  continuously  and  earnestly,  by  the  help  of  readers, 
his  memory  and  his  power  of  attention  have  been  strength- 
ened by  practice.  His  range  of  investigation  has  been 
wide ;  his  acquaintance  with  standard  authors  in  vari- 
ous departments  of  theological  and  general  literature  is 
familiar ;  his  judgment,  from  the  intensity  of  his  thought, 
while  listening  to  the  friend  at  his  side,  has  become  unu- 
sually quick  and  sound,  so  that  it  may  be  said  with  truth, 
few  of  our  working  clergy  are  better  stored  with  material 
for  the  pulpit  than  he.  He  thoroughly  understands  and 
faithfully  expounds  the  system  of  truth  set  forth  in  the 
standards  of  the  church  to  which  he  is  loyally  attached. 
His  discourses  are  notable  for  their  analytical  arrangement; 
his  definitions  are  apt ;  his  illustrations  happy ;  his  mode 
of  thought  oftentimes  fresh ;  his  language  easy  and  not  de- 


XVI  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH    OF   THE    EDITOR. 

void  of  unction;  which,  united  to  a  demonstrative  force, 
distinct  enunciation,  and  a  natural  earnestness  mingled 
with  pathos,  render  him,  through  divine  blessing,  a  forcible, 
pleasing  preacher.  The  absence  of  sight  interests  his  hear- 
ers for  him,  but  occasions  no  awkwardness  of  manner,  or 
unpleasant  feelings ;  and  he  is  listened  to  with  emotions  of 
thankfulness  that  it  pleases  God  to  bring  such  joyful  light 
out  of  such  darkness. 

His  story  is  instructive,  confirming  the  evangelical  doc- 
trine, that  we  may,  through  grace,  "glory  in  tribulation," 
be  made  strong  by  weakness,  and  "count  it  all  joy  when 
we  fall  into  manifold  temptations ;''  nay,  that  there  are  no 
impediments  or  obstacles  insuperable  to  one  who,  trusting 
his  Master's  promise,  is  determined  upon  doing  what  his 
"hands  find  to  do,  with  all  his  might." 


THE  FOLLY  OF  DOUBTING  THE  EXECUTION 
OF  GOD'S  THREATENINGS. 

BT 

THE    REV.    E.    WILSON,    EDITOR. 


Knowing  this  first,  that  there  shall  come  in  the  last  days  scoffers, 
■walking  after  their  own  lusts,  and  saying,  Where  is  the  promise  of 
his  coming  ?  for  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as 
they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation. — 2  Peter  iii.  3,  4. 

This  is  a  prophetic  declaration  of  an  apostle,  rela- 
tive to  the  character  and  conduct  of  a  class  of  men 
who  would  arise  in  the  last  days,  that  is,  at  the 
termination  of  the  Jewish  polity,  and,  affecting  to 
discredit  the  promises  and  threatenings  of  God,  by 
scoffing  at  religion,  would  walk  after  their  own  lusts. 

The  history  of  every  age,  since  the  days  of  the 
apostles,  has  furnished  lamentable  proof  of  the  truth 
of  this  declaration.  Even  in  this  age,  under  the  in- 
creasing light  of  the  gospel,  scoffers  are  increasing 
in  number  and  daring  profaneness.  So  true  is  the 
affirmation  of  Scripture,  that  "  evil  men  and  seducers 
shall  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and  being 
deceived."  "  For,  as  in  water  face  answereth  to 
face,  so  the  heart  of  man  to  man."  In  every  age 
unbelief  marks  his  character,  and  evinces  the  truth 
of  Scripture,  that  "  the  heart  is  deceitful  above  all 
2  (i) 


2  FOLLY   OF  DOUBTING  GOD'S   THREATENINGS. 

things,  and  desperately  wicked."  With  affections 
thus  averse  to  holiness,  he  refuses  obedience  to  the 
divine  commands,  and  yields  to  his  wayward  pro- 
pensities. When  urged  to  the  duty  of  repentance 
and  faith,  he  flies  to  some  refuge  of  lies ;  and  to  still 
the  voice  of  conscience,  affects  to  doubt  the  truth  of 
divine  threatenings. 

My  object  is  to  show  the  folly  of  those  who  doubt 
the  execution  of  God's  threatenings. 

Their  folly  will  appear  evident  from  the  following 
reasons : 

1st.  Because  they  demand  an  immediate  fulfil- 
ment, saying,  "Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?" 
The  scoffer  must  see  an  immediate  exhibition  of 
retributive  justice,  or  else  he  utterly  refuses  to 
believe  the  evidence  which  God  has  been  pleased 
to  give. 

It  needs  no  very  extensive  survey  of  the  divine 
government,  to  discover  that  an  immediate  execu- 
tion of  threatenings  is  not  a  principle  of  its  adminis- 
tration. For  an  apt  illustration  of  this  principle, 
refer  to  the  history  of  Manasseh.  The  character 
of  this  prince  was  of  the  most  detestable  kind.  He 
not  only  filled  Jerusalem  with  innocent  blood,  but 
also  caused  Judali  and  Jerusalem  to  sin  more  griev- 
ously than  any  of  the  surrounding  nations.  Idolatry, 
through  his  influence,  became  the  prevailing  religion 
from  the  royal  court  to  the  meanest  subject.  In 
addition  to  these  enormities,  the  warnings  and  admo- 
nitions by  the  prophets  to  this  proud  and  idolatrous 
prince,  were  rejected  by  both  prince  and  people  with 
disdain. 
Thus  provoked  by  contempt,  and  by  the  violation  of 


E.    WILSON.  6 

every  law  of  humanity,  justice,  and  mercy,  Jehovah 
threatens  Manasseh  and  his  people  with  a  sweeping 
destruction,  saying,  "Because  Manasseh,  king  of 
Judah,  hath  done  these  abominations,  and  hath  done 
wickedly  above  all  that  the  Amorites  did  which 
were  before  him,  and  hath  made  Judah  also  to  sin 
with  his  idols ;  therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel,  Behold,  I  am  bringing  such  evil  upon  Jeru- 
salem and  Judah,  that  whosoever  heareth  of  it  both 
his  ears  shall  tingle.  And  I  will  stretch  over  Jeru- 
salem the  line  of  Samaria,  and  the  plummet  of  the 
house  of  Ahab;  and  I  will  wipe  Jerusalem,  as  a 
man  wipeth  a  dish,  wiping  it,  and  turning  it  upside 
down.  And  I  will  forsake  the  remnant  of  mine 
inheritance,  and  deliver  them  into  the  hand  of  their 
enemies,  and  they  shall  become  a  prey  and  a  spoil 
to  all  their  enemies ;  because  they  have  done  that 
which  was  evil  in  my  sight,  and  have  provoked  me 
to  anger  since  the  day  their  fathers  came  forth  out 
of  Egypt,  even  unto  this  day."  But  did  God,  in 
this  instance,  immediately  execute  his  threatenings  ? 
No,  for  the  subsequent  history  shows  that  Manasseh 
himself  died  in  peace,  and  the  execution  of  it  on  his 
people  was  deferred  to  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  about 
one  hundred  years. 

Again,  this  principle  of  the  divine  government 
is  more  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  history  of 
Amalek.  This  idolatrous  nation  made  an  attack 
on  Israel  when  weary  and  enfeebled  from  their 
wanderings  in  the  desert;  but  Jehovah  wrought  a 
complete  victory  for  his  chosen  people. 

This  unprovoked  attack  brought  on  Amalek  the 
displeasure  of  Jehovah.     And  as  an  expression  of  his 


4  FOLLY   OF   DOUBTING   GODS   THREATENINGS. 

righteous  indignation,  u  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
Write  this  for  a  memorial  in  a  book,  and  rehearse  it 
in  the  ears  of  Joshua ;  for  I  will  utterly  put  out  the 
remembrance  of  Amalek  from  under  heaven."  Here, 
again,  is  sentence  against  the  transgressor  immedi- 
ately executed  ?  By  no  means ;  for,  notwithstanding 
this  threatening,  Amalek  is,  through  the  divine  for- 
bearance, preserved  from  immediate  destruction. 
Still,  lest  it  should  be  inferred  from  this  delay  that 
God  had  forgotten  their  sins,  or  indeed  never  in- 
tended to  execute  his  sentence,  he,  after  the  lapse 
of  nearly  half  a  century,  renews,  with  additional 
reasons,  his  command  to  the  Israelites,  the  chosen 
instruments  to  inflict  his  wrath,  saying,  "  Remember 
what  Amalek  did  unto  thee  by  the  way,  when  ye 
were  come  forth  out  of  Egypt,  how  he  met  thee  by 
the  way,  and  smote  the  hindmost  of  thee,  even  all 
that  were  feeble  behind  thee,  when  thou  wast  faint 
and  weary ;  and  he  feared  not  God.  Therefore  it 
shall  be,  when  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee 
rest  from  all  thine  enemies  round  about,  in  the  land 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee  for  an  inherit- 
ance to  possess  it,  that  thou  shalt  blot  out  the  re- 
membrance of  Amalek  from  under  heaven ;  thou 
shalt  not  forget  it." 

The  subsequent  history  of  this  people  shows 
that  they  continued,  from  age  to  age,  to  cherish 
towards  Israel  a  hostile  disposition,  and  like  modern 
scoffers,  perfectly  secure  in  their  sins,  they  hastened 
to  fill  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquity. 

The  long-suffering  of  God  having  at  length  be- 
come exhausted,  he  delivers,  after  the  lapse  of  Jive 
hundred  and  forty-eight  years,  his  final  command. 


E.    WILSON.  5 

through  his  prophet  Samuel,  saying  to  king  Saul, 
"  Now  go  and  smite  Amalek,  and  utterly  destroy 
all  that  they  have,  and  spare  them  not;  but  slay 
both  man  and  woman,  infant  and  suckling,  ox  and 
sheep,  camel  and  ass."  This  threatening  was  now 
fully  accomplished,  and  the  remembrance  of  Amalek 
blotted  out  from  under  heaven. 

It  is  true,  that  the  history  of  Manasseh  and 
Amalek  gives  but  an  imperfect  view  of  the  testi- 
mony which  might  be  gathered,  to  prove  "that  an 
immediate  execution  of  threatenings  is  not  a  princi- 
ple of  the  divine  administration.  But  if  the  testi- 
mony of  Moses  and  the  Prophets  fails  to  convince 
the  scoffer,  that  God  will  finally  fulfil  his  word,  then 
would  he  not  be  persuaded  though  one  rose  from 
the  dead. 

The  reason  of  this  long  delay  of  judgment  given 
by  the  apostle  in  the  chapter  whence  our  text  is 
taken,  is,  that  God  is  "long  suffering  to  us  ward, 
not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all 
should  come  to  repentance."  And  we  would  natu- 
rally infer,  that  such  an  exhibition  of  forbearance  in 
the  midst  of  deserved  wrath,  would  induce  the  sin- 
ner to  embrace  this  favourable  moment  to  "  seek 
the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found,"  and  thus  escape 
his  judgment.  But  such  is  the  madness  of  his  heart, 
and  the  folly  of  his  course,  that  in  bold  defiance  of 
every  threatening  of  the  Almighty,  he,  sheltering 
himself  beneath  his  unreasonable  doubts,  still  per- 
sists in  his  rebellion,  and  asks,  amidst  the  clearest 
evidence,  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  ?  But 
their  folly  is   more   manifest, 

II.  But,  again,  their  folly  is  more  strikingly 
manifest,  because  they  utterly  disregard  the  teachings 
of  Providence. 


G  FOLLY   OF  DOUBTING  GOD'S   THKEATENINGS. 

Every  impenitent  heart  is  prone  to  imagine  that 
God  is  a  being  simply  benevolent,  overlooking  his 
justice  and  holiness.  This  vain  notion  the  sinner 
continues  to  cherish,  though  God,  through  the  abun- 
dance of  his  mercy,  has,  in  his  providence,  added 
instruction  to  instruction.  But  the  greater  the  light — 
in  which  God  exhibits  his  determined  purpose  in- 
violably to  unite  in  his  moral  government,  justice, 
mercy  and  holiness — the  more  obstinately  blind  does 
the  sinner  remain.  And  if  nothing  but  an  over- 
whelming exhibition  of  power,  in  executing  the 
fierceness  of  his  wrath,  could  arouse  the  scoffer  from 
his  willing  stupidity,  God  has,  even  of  this,  conde- 
scended to  give  him  abundant  examples. 

A  moral  lesson,  irresistible  in  its  impression  on 
the  reflecting  mind,  we  have  given  us  in  the  terrific 
destruction  of  the  antediluvian  world.  One  hun- 
dred and  twenty  years  did  divine  justice,  through 
the  intercession  of  mercy  in  behalf  of  its  guilty 
inhabitants,  forbear  to  execute  its  denunciations  of 
wrath.  But  like  sinners  of  the  present  age,  those 
incorrigible  and  stupid  sons  of  violence  suffered  the 
time  given  them  for  repentance  to  pass  unimproved. 
Divine  justice,  though  forbearing,  slumbered  not. 
The  unexpected,  the  fatal  hour  arrived.  Mercy  re- 
tired. The  door  of  hope  was  closed,  and  justice, 
with  the  besom  of  destruction,  swept  a  guilty  race 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.  God,  as  if  determined 
that  this  lesson  of  instruction  should  not  be  lost  to 
any  succeeding  age,  not  only  recorded  it  upon  the 
sacred  page,  but  also  chronicled  it  upon  the  corner- 
stones of  the  world,  inscribed  it  on  every  moun 
tain  top,  left  its  impress  on  the  surface  of  every 


E.    WILSON.  7 

valley,  and  transmitted  it  through  the  traditions  of 
all  nations. 

But  has  the  hand  of  divine  justice  been  less  truly 
manifested  in  the  moral  government  of  the  world 
in  any  succeeding  age  ?  By  no  means.  For  where 
is  Nineveh,  that  once  humbled  yet  impenitent  city  ? 
Where  are  the  cities  of  the  plain?  We  have  the 
answer  of  the  apostle,  that  "  God,  turning  the  cities 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  into  ashes,  condemned  them 
with  an  overthrow,  making  them  an  ensample  unto 
those  that  after  should  live  ungodly."  The  same 
inquiry  and  answer  may  be  made  in  reference  to 
Babylon,  Tyre  and  Sidon,  Carthage  and  Rome. 
These  were  among  the  most  renowned  cities  of  the 
world ;  long  the  subject  of  prophecy ;  distinguished 
alike  for  their  extent  and  influence ;  the  enormity 
and  number  of  their  crimes,  and,  finally,  not  less 
distinguished  for  the  display  of  divine  justice  in 
their  destruction. 

But  the  moral  lessons  to  be  derived  from  the 
volume  of  providence,  whether  the  instructive 
events  be  remote  or  near,  appear  alike  inefficient  in 
teaching  the  scoffer  his  true  character,  and  in  con- 
vincing him  that  the  most  high  God  ruleth  in  the 
kingdoms  of  men,  and  that  he  appointeth  over  them 
whomsoever  he  will. 

Nebuchadnezzar,  a  proud  and  idolatrous  monarch 
of  Babylon,  while  walking  in  the  palace  of  his  king- 
dom, and  being  elated  with  the  greatness  of  his 
capital,  and  the  glory  of  his  dominion,  "  spake,  and 
said,  Is  not  this  great  Babylon,  that  I  have  built  for 
the  house  of  the  kingdom,  by  the  might  of  my 
power,  and  for  the  honour  of  my  majesty  ?"     But 


8  FOLLY   OF   DOUBTING   GOD'S   THREATENINGS. 

how  suddenly  was  he  arrested  in  his  career  !  "  While 
the  word  was  in  the  king's  mouth,  there  fell  a  voice 
from  heaven,  saying,  0  king  Nebuchadnezzar,  to  thee 
it  is  spoken,  the  kingdom  is  departed  from  thee ; 
and  they  shall  drive  thee  from  men,  and  thy  dwell- 
ing shall  be  with  the  beasts  of  the  field  !  they  shall 
make  thee  to  eat  grass  as  oxen ;  and  seven  times 
shall  pass  over  thee,  until  thou  know  that  the  Most 
High  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it 
to  whomsoever  he  will.  The  same  hour  was  the 
thing  fulfilled  upon  Nebuchadnezzar." 

Now  Belshazzar,  his  grandson  and  possessor  of 
his  throne,  though  acquainted  with  this  history  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  yet  rejecting  all  its  evidence  of  the 
sovereignty  of  God,  pursued  a  course  still  more 
aggravating  in  the  sight  of  heaven ;  the  more  aggra- 
vating, because  he  had  the  greater  means  of  in- 
struction. But  in  the  midst  of  his  idolatrous  feast 
"  came  forth  fingers  of  a  man's  hand,  writing  on  the 
wall  of  his  palace — Mene,  mene,  tekel,  upharsin," 
the  sentence  of  his  condemnation  and  execution. 

Alarmed  at  this  vision,  the  king  finally  brings  in 
the  servant  of  the  true  God,  because  he  alone  was 
found  able  to  interpret  the  writing.  So  true  is  it 
that  Jehovah  will  always  put  honour  on  his  children 
in  humbling  his  enemies. 

Daniel,  when  admitted  into  the  royal  presence, 
briefly  states  the  history  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  his 
crimes,  condemnation,  humility,  and  restoration,  and 
declares  to  the  king,  "  Thou,  his  son,  0  Belshazzar, 
hast  not  humbled  thy  heart,  though  thou  kneivest 
all  this." 

It  is  true,  that  time  has  removed  to  a  great  dis- 


E.    WILSON.  9 

tance  all  the  events  above  specified,  but  the  case  of 
the  Jewish  nation  is  a  standing  miracle ;  evidencing, 
beyond  reasonable  doubt,  that  Jehovah  is  still  the 
governor  of  the  nations,  the  King  of  kings,  and  Lord 
of  lords.  For  who  can  be  ignorant  of  the  fact,  that 
the  house  of  Israel,  though  long  the  favourite  of 
heaven,  yet  has  been  for  ages  scattered  among  every 
nation  of  the  earth.  Cruelly  oppressed  in  every  way 
which  human  ingenuity  could  devise,  and  still  pre- 
served a  distinct  people ;  reserved,  both  as  objects 
of  wrath  and  mercy,  to  furnish  some  forthcoming 
age  a  signal  exhibition  of  the  divine  glory. 

But  we  need  not  depend  for  evidence  exclusively 
on  the  history  of  nations,  for  we  have  ample  proof 
in  the  life  of  each  individual,  that  God,  from  the 
volume  of  providence,  is  giving  every  man  impres- 
sive lessons  for  his  immediate  improvement. 

What  though  some  regard  not  the  work  of  Jeho- 
vah, neither  consider  the  operation  of  his  hands,  yet 
to  every  willing  mind  he  is  constantly  exhibiting 
himself  rich  in  mercy,  glorious  in  holiness,  wisdom, 
and  power. 

The  harmony  of  our  moral  and  physical  consti- 
tution, with  the  laws  of  nature,  proves  beyond  con- 
tradiction, that  the  Author  of  our  being  not  only 
designs  our  happiness,  but  also  that  we  should  con- 
stantly associate  in  our  minds  obedience  and  happi- 
ness, disobedience  and  misery.  For  every  man  finds, 
from  daily  experience,  that  an  infringement  of  these 
laws  is  followed,  sooner  or  later,  and  generally  in- 
stantly, by  pain,  disease,  misery,  and  death.  And 
equally  indubitable  is  the  testimony  of  individual 
experience,  that  a  strict  observance  of  these  laws  is 


10        FOLLY   OF   DOUBTING   GOD'S   THREATENINGS. 

followed  by  health  and  happiness.  The  full  flow 
of  animal  spirits  consequent  on  partaking  of  a  cheer- 
ful meal,  in  strict  accordance  with  the  laws  of  health, 
as  truly  inculcates  the  doctrine  as  does  the  Bible 
itself,  that  God  purposes  in  his  dealings  with  us  to 
unite  inseparably  in  our  minds  obedience  and  happi- 
ness. But  is  the  testimony  of  our  experience,  as  to 
the  effect  of  regarding  or  violating  the  moral  law 
of  our  being,  less  certain  than  that  of  the  physical  ? 
or  is  it  consonant  to  reason  to  suppose  that  less  har- 
mony and  order  of  sequence  would  exist  in  the  moral 
world  than  in  the  physical  ? 

The  experience  of  every  man  fully  accords  with 
the  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  that  the  work  of  right- 
eousness shall  be  peace,  and  the  effect  of  righteous- 
ness quietness  and  assurance  for  ever.  Surely  these 
instances  are  enough  to  convince  every  rational  per- 
son that  God,  in  his  supervision  of  the  world,  is  con- 
stantly furnishing  lessons  of  moral  instruction,  and 
that  he  has  not  at  any  time  left  himself  without  a 
witness.  What,  then,  must  be  the  folly  of  those 
who  utterly  disregard  the  teachings  of  divine 
providence ! 

III.  Those  therefore,  who,  under  such  circum- 
stances still  continue  to  cherish  their  unbelief,  must 
evidently  make  their  doubting  the  truth  of  God  an 
excuse  for  their  sin.  This  conduct  of  the  sinner  is 
evidently  nothing  less  than  to  offer  one  sin  as  a  pre- 
text for  committing  many  more.  But  how  absurd 
and  vain  is  such  a  refuge ! 

Such,  however,  are  the  extremes  of  absurdity  to 
which  the  sinner  is  driven  by  a  love  of  sin;  but  let 


E.    WILSON.  11 

conscience  awake,  and  remorse  will  arise  in  his  mind, 
from  a  consciousness  of  personal  guilt,  and  fear  of 
condign  punishment. 

Hence,  when  the  transgressor  becomes  truly  con- 
scious of  personal  guilt,  he  cannot  but  be  tormented 
with  that  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery 
indignation  which  shall  devour  the  adversaries.  So 
long,  therefore,  as  he  continues  under  the  dominion 
of  Satan,  and  wedded  to  his  lusts,  the  unequivocal 
sentence,  that  "the  wicked  shall  be  turned  into 
hell,"  must  pierce  him  with  horror.  Here  we  would 
infer,  that  the  sinner,  from  a  sense  of  his  guilt  and 
danger,  would  ground  the  weapons  of  his  rebellion, 
and  plead  for  pardon.  But  no — lest  he  should  be 
compelled  to  close  with  the  voice  of  God  and  of  con- 
science, he  makes  lies  his  refuge,  and  under  false- 
hood he  hides  himself. 

Thus,  when  the  conscience  has  been  overpowered 
by  continually  resisting  all  its  admonitions,  then 
their  wayward  passions  constitute  their  only  guide, 
the  gratification  of  their  carnal  desires  the  object 
and  end  of  their  being. 

Are  not  the  laws  of  God,  and  his  plan  of  salvation 
by  a  Mediator,  of  such  a  character  as  to  commend 
themselves  to  the  judgment  and  conscience  even  of 
the  impenitent  ?  If  not,  why  does  sudden  calamity 
and  fear  compel  even  the  vilest  of  the  wicked  to 
implore  divine  assistance,  and  earnestly  beseech  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  for  mercy  to  avert  His  impending 
wrath,  which  in  the  day  of  prosperity  they  so  affect- 
edly disregard  or  despise  ?  But  let  the  long-suffer- 
ing mercy  of  heaven  withdraw  His  avenging  hand, 
sheathe  the  sword  of  justice,  and  restore  prosperity, 


12         FOLLY  OF  DOUBTING  GOD'S   THREATENLNGS. 

how  soon  do  their  vain  hopes  revive,  and  they  again 
resort  to  the  same  subterfuge  of  lies  !  Despising  the 
riches  of  God's  goodness,  and  forbearance,  and  long- 
suffering,  they  renew  boldly  and  confidently  their 
feeble  strength  to  contend  with  Omnipotence ;  they 
stretch  out  their  hand  against  God,  and  strengthen 
themselves  against  the  Almighty ;  they  run  upon 
him,  even  on  his  neck,  upon  the  thick  bosses  of 
his  bucklers. 

It  is  an  old  adage,  and  as  true  as  it  is  old,  "  that 
experience  keeps  a  dear  school,  but  fools  will  learn 
in  no  other."  Now,  how  wise  these  men  become 
from  experience,  for  though  they  have  had  repeated 
warnings,  yet  they  seek  peace  and  safety  by  again 
opposing  their  moral  nature. 

But  does  not  this  conduct  evidently  show  that 
these  men  only  pretend  to  disbelieve  what  they 
know  is  true,  that  they  may  furnish  by  doubting 
an  excuse  for  sin  ?  On  what  other  conceivable  prin- 
ciple can  the  fact  be  explained,  that  adversity  does 
so  effectually  destroy  their  hopes,  and  compel  them 
to  close  with  the  voice  of  God  and  of  conscience  ? 
It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  the  scoffer's  love  of  sin 
is  so  inveterate,  that  whenever  urged  to  repentance 
and  faith,  he  is  necessitated,  though  he  thus  does 
violence  to  his  moral  nature,  to  shelter  himself 
under  the  vain  refuge  of  doubting  the  truth  of  God, 
that  he  may  thereby  have  an  excuse  for  continuing 
in  sin. 

Though  the  truth  is  attested  by  an  overwhelming 
amount  of  evidence,  when  duly  weighed,  yet  because 
this  evidence  is  not  given  in  such  form  as  the  sin- 
ner himself  may  capriciously  choose,  therefore  he 
utterly  refuses  all  evidence.     So  incredulous  is  he, 


E.    WILSON-.  13 

as  to  reject  the  truth,  though  proved  by  the  strongest 
evidence,  and  to  embrace  error  though  supported  by 
the  weakest.  In  this,  his  incredulity,  he  glories, 
because,  in  his  opinion,  it  elevates  him  above  the 
common  herd  of  mankind,  and  evinces  greatness 
and  freedom  of  intellect.  Women,  children,  and 
feeble-minded  men  may  believe  the  word  of  God  on 
the  evidence  which  he  has  been  pleased  to  give,  but 
such  credulity  is  beneath  the  dignity  of  great  intel- 
lects and  capacious  minds.  No,  no.  These  persons 
cannot  believe  the  truth  when  evinced  to  a  cer- 
tainty, but  to  show  their  incredulity  must  receive 
error,  though  disproved  by  all  the  evidence  that 
boasted  reason  itself  can  adduce.  To  manifest  their 
incredulity  fully,  it  is  necessary  to  take  only  one  step 
more,  and  that  is,  to  exhibit  their  principles  in  prac- 
tice, which  they  do  by  "  walking  continually  after 
their  own  lusts." 

Thus  their  very  practice  furnishes  no  weak  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  which  they  affect  to  disbelieve. 
Having  nothing  but  the  subterfuge  of  a  doubt  to 
offer  as  an  excuse  for  thus  rebelling  against  God,  yet 
they  confidently  demand,  "  Where  is  the  promise  of 
his  coming?"  "Where  is  the  God  of  judgment?" 
But  divine  justice  will  not  always  slumber,  and 
suffer  these  men  to  manifest  this  vain  confidence; 
"  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the 
night."  "For  when  they  shall  say  peace  and  safety 
then  sudden  destruction  cometh  upon  them,  as  travail 
upon  a  woman  with  child,  and  they  shall  not  escape." 

IV.  Again,  their  folly  will  the  more  evidently 
appear,  because  they  suspend  their  highest  interests 
on  an  unreasonable  doubt. 


14         FOLLY   OF   DOUBTING   GOD'S   THREATENINGS. 

Since  "there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  know- 
ledge, nor  wisdom,  in  the  grave,"  reason,  as  well 
as  revelation,  would  teach  us  that  every  one  should 
strive  to  make  his  calling  and  election  sure,  "while 
it  is  the  accepted  time  and  the  day  of  salva- 
tion." But  in  opposition  to  the  voice  of  God,  of 
conscience,  and  of  nature  through  all  her  works,  the 
impenitent  blindly,  but  wilfully,  pursue  their  way 
of  rebellion  and  death.  "  For  if  we  sin  wilfully 
after  that  we  have  received  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sins,  but 
a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery 
indignation,  which  shall  devour  the  adversaries." 

Man  was  created  in  knowledge,  righteousness  and 
holiness,  and  was  endowed  with  these  intellectual 
and  moral  powers,  that  he  might,  in  all  the  works 
of  creation  and  providence,  behold  and  reflect  the 
glory  of  his  Creator,  and  find  happiness  in  obeying 
his  commands. 

But  the  crown  has  fallen  from  his  head,  and  all 
glory  has  departed  from  him.  In  consequence  of 
the  innate  depravity  of  his  heart,  he  now  rejects  the 
knowledge  of  the  Most  High,  disregards  the  glory 
of  his  character,  yields  himself  to  the  service  of  Sa- 
tan and  the  dominion  of  sin,  despises  the  Son  of 
God  and  his  salvation,  and  thus  effectually  destroys, 
not  only  his  present,  but  eternal  happiness. 

While  absorbed  in  the  gratification  of  his  passions, 
he  esteems  his  own  permanent  well-being,  the  hap- 
piness of  the  universe,  and  the  glory  of  the  great 
Jehovah,  as  objects  unworthy  of  rational  pursuit — 
unworthy  of  the  least  regard.  And  when  the 
gospel  urges  its  claims  on  his  attention,  with  all  its 


E.   WILSON.  15 

power  of  appeal  to  the  heart,  he  awakes  from  his 
lethargy  only  to  doubt,  and  vainly  wish  for  happi- 
ness in  a  course  of  disobedience  and  death.  For 
if  the  gospel,  with  its  promises  and  threatenings,  is 
true,  then  the  scoffer  must  perish  ;  there  is  no  alter- 
native. But  that  it  may  eventually  prove  true  is 
at  least  possible,  and  its  bare  possibility  involves 
interests  too  important  to  be  banished  from  the 
human  mind,  or  for  a  moment  to  be  neglected. 

How  great,  then,  must  be  the  folly  of  those  who 
doubt  the  execution  of  God's  threatenings,  and  still 
more  absurd  does  it  appear,  since  on  their  very 
doubt  the  question  turns  of  their  eternal  happiness. 

But  why  is  it,  that  the  impenitent  take  so  little 
interest  in  their  permanent  well-being,  while  they 
so  zealously  expend  all  their  powers  to  lay  up 
treasures  on  earth,  "  where  moth  and  rust  doth  cor- 
rupt, and  where  thieves  break  through  and  steal." 
They  never  suffer  a  doubt  to  prevent  their  most 
strenuous  efforts,  while  there  is  the  least  prospect 
of  obtaining  the  objects  of  their  carnal  desires.  A 
possibility  of  extending  an  empire  will  so  arouse 
all  the  energies  and  ambitious  hopes  of  an  Alex- 
ander, or  a  Bonapart,  that  they  will  call  into  requi- 
sition all  the  resources  of  a  nation,  and  jeopard  the 
life  of  millions,  merely  to  promote  their  own 
aggrandizement.  Is  there  a  possibility  of  the  mer- 
chant increasing  his  means  of  earthly  enjoyment 
by  foreign  commerce  ?  Without  reluctance  he  will 
expose  all  his  property,  though  the  product  of  his 
toil  and  exhausting  labour  for  years,  to  the  mercy 
of  the  raging  storm  and  treacherous  ocean.  The 
same  hope,  excited  by  the  success  of  others,  inspires 


16         FOLLY  OF  DOUBTING   GOD'S   THREATENINGS. 

the  heart  of  the  poor  and  the  oppressed,  and  calls 
into  vigorous  activity  all  their  powers,  to  increase 
merely  their  present  happiness. 

What  expense  will  the  wicked,  when  assailed  by 
disease,  spare  to  secure  their  recovery,  and  prolong 
their  life  for  self-indulgence?  Such  is  their  love 
of  the  world  and  fear  of  judgment,  that  a  mere  pos 
sibility  of  recovery  elates  them  with  hope,  and 
makes  them  cling  even  to  the  last  moment  of  life, 
as  the  wrecked  mariner  clings  to  a  fragment  of  his 
shattered  bark. 

Now,  can  men  of  sane  minds  deem  themselves 
wise,  in  sanctioning  such  conduct  in  respect  to  their 
temporal  interests,  and  the  preservation  of  their 
bodies,  while  they  suffer  an  unreasonable  doubt  to 
blast  the  highest  interests  of  their  souls  ?  Would 
not  consistency  of  conduct  absolutely  demand,  even 
on  the  mere  possibility  of  the  reality  of  religion, 
and  of  the  truth  of  its  promises  and  threatenings, 
that  they  should  put  forth  vigorously  their  best  di- 
rected efforts,  to  secure  also  their  permanent  well- 
being  ?  But  Christianity  rests  not  on  a  bare  possi- 
bility ;  its  reality  is  attested  by  all  the  evidence 
which  reason  can  ask  for  or  desire.  What,  then, 
must  be  the  inconsistency — nay,  consummate  folly,  of 
those  who  not  only  suspend  their  own  everlasting 
happiness  on  an  unreasonable  doubt,  but  also  utterly 
disregard  the  well-being  of  the  universe,  and  con- 
temn the  glory  of  the  eternal  God  ?  "  He  that  sit- 
teth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh ;  the  Lord  shall  have 
them  in  derision." 

V.  But  this  leads  us  to  observe,  finally,  that  the 
doubting  of  the  scoffer  will  not  'prevent  the  execution 
of  God's  threatenings. 


E.   WILSON.  17 

The  punishment  of  the  lawless  and  disobedient 
may  be  regarded  as  essential  to  the  well-being  of 
human  government ;  and  no  principle  of  the  divine 
government  is  more  fully  established  than  this,  viz. 
that  God  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty.  Both 
the  law  and  the  gospel  declare  that  "  the  wicked 
shall  be  turned  into  hell,  and  all  the  nations  that 
forget  God."  "According  to  their  deeds  accordingly 
he  will  repay  fury  to  his  adversaries,  recompense  to  his 
enemies."  "Though  hand  join  in  hand,  the  wicked 
shall  not  be  unpunished.  For  he  that  believeth  not 
the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  him.  He  shall  break  them  with  a  rod 
of  iron ;  he  shall  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's 
vessel." 

What,  then,  is  the  scoffer's  strength,  which  he  can 
exert  in  opposing  himself  to  the  truth  and  power  of 
God?  His  feeble  arm  can  oppose  only  a  doubt  and 
ridicule.  With  these  he  encourages  himself  to  wage, 
as  he  fondly  hopes,  successful  war  against  Jehovah, 
and  the  highest  interests  of  his  illimitable  empire, 
as  if  Omnipotence  was  inadequate  to  crush  every 
opposing  power  which  the  sinner  can  raise. 

Oh  what  madness !  what  extreme  folly !  "  He  that 
planted  the  ear,  shall  he  not  hear  ?  he  that  formed 
the  eye,  shall  he  not  see?  he  that  chastiseth  the 
heathen,  shall  not  he  correct  ?" 

But  if  the  truth  of  revelation  fails  to  enlighten 
and  restrain  the  impenitent,  they  are  nevertheless 
without  excuse ;  for  much  of  the  nature  of  God, 
and  of  their  duty,  is  revealed  to  them  by  the  light 
of  creation  and  providence.  "  Because  that  which 
may  be  known  of  God  is  manifest  in  them,  for  God 
3 


IS         FOLLY  OF  DOUBTING   GOD'S    THREATENINGS. 

hath  showed  it  unto  them."  For  the  invisible 
things  of  Him,  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  are 
clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that  are 
made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead ;  so  that 
they  are  without  excuse.  And  if  they  regard  neither 
the  light  of  revelation  nor  providence,  yet  have  they 
not  the  law  of  conscience,  which  is  sufficient  to  es- 
tablish the  justice  of  their  eternal  condemnation? 
for  all  men  do  naturally  the  things  that  the  law 
requires,  which  proves  that  they  have  a  law  in  them- 
selves, since  they  frequently  act  according  to  its 
rule.  The  work  of  the  divine  law  is  written  in  their 
hearts,  by  which  they  discern  the  difference  between 
right  and  wrong — what  is  just  and  what  is  unjust. 

If  evidence  can  attest  the  truth,  and  facts  evince 
the  certainty,  of  the  purpose  of  God  to  punish  the 
disobedient,  then  the  actual  execution  of  all  his  de- 
nunciations could  not  furnish  stronger  ground  of  cer- 
tainty than  that  which  God  has  already  given.  Un- 
less, therefore,  one  of  two  things  can  be  p>roved,  either 
that  God  does  not  intend  to  execute  his  threatenings, 
or  that  his  power  is  inadequate,  the  destruction  of 
the  scoffer  is  inevitable.  For  if  Jehovah  has  pur- 
posed by  his  only  begotten  Son  to  introduce  and 
maintain  his  kingdom  in  the  world,  will  he  not,  as 
all  powers  and  agencies  are  under  his  control,  roll 
onward  unchecked  the  mighty  wheels  of  his  eternal 
government,  though  beneath  them  lie  crushed  his 
guilty  feeble  foes  ? 

God's  immutable  justice,  holiness,  and  truth  de- 
mand the  immediate  and  eternal  punishment  of  the 
wicked,  but  through  his  abundant  grace  and  mercy 
he  condescends  to  expostulate  with  them,  saying, 


E.    WILSON".  19 

"  As  I  live  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the 
wicked,  but  that  the  wicked  turn  from  his  way  and 
live ;  turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways,  for  why 
will  ye  die  ?"  How  strongly  marked,  therefore,  is 
the  folly  of  those  who  not  only  doubt  the  execution 
of  God's  threatenings,  but  also  despise  the  riches  of 
his  goodness,  and  forbearance,  and  long-suffering, 
and  dare  to  mock  at  every  thing  sacred. 

God  has  predicted  their  fearful  and  eternal  destiny, 
saying,  "  I  also  will  laugh  at  your  calamity ;  I  will 
mock  when  your  fear  cometh ;  when  your  fear  com- 
eth  as  desolation,  and  your  destruction  cometh  as  a 
whirlwind ;  when  distress  and  anguish  cometh  upon 
you."  "  Then  shall  ye  return  and  discern  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  between  him  that 
serveth  God,  and  him  that  serveth  him  not.  For 
behold,  the  day  cometh  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven ; 
and  all  the  proud,  yea,  and  all  that  do  wickedly 
shall  be  stubble,  and  the  day  that  cometh  shall  burn 
them  up,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  it  shall  leave 
them  neither  root  nor  branch.  But  unto  you  that 
fear  my  name  shall  the  Sun  of  righteousness  arise 
with  healing  in  his  wings." 

Take  heed,  brethren,  the  professed  disciples  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  "  lest  there  be  in  any  of  you  an  evil 
heart  of  unbelief  in  departing  from  the  living  God." 
"  Stand,  therefore,  having  your  loins  girt  about  with 
truth,  and  having  on  the  breastplate  of  righteous- 
ness, and  your  feet  shod  with  the  preparation  of  the 
gospel  of  peace;  above  all  taking  the  shield  of  faith, 
wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery 
darts  of  the  wicked."  "Let  your  light  so  shine 
before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and 


20         FOLLY  OF  DOUBTING   GOD's   THREATENINGS. 

glorify  your  father  which  is  in  heaven."  And  in 
due  time  ye  shall  receive  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promise,  that  "  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn 
many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and 
ever." 

But,  dear  reader,  are  you  still  walking  after  your 
own  lusts,  and  saying,  in  the  language  of  the  scoffer, 
"  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  ?  Where  is 
the  God  of  judgment?"  The  riches  of  God's  good- 
ness and  forbearance  may  be  despised,  his  warnings 
and  threatenings  may  be  contemned,  "  but  know 
thou  that  for  all  these  things  God  will  bring  thee 
into  judgment."  Does  not  your  own  experience 
confirm  the  truth  of  God,  that  the  way  of  transgres- 
sors is  hard  ?  If,  therefore,  your  way  is  dark  and 
portentous,  what  shall  the  end  be  ? 

Thus  saith  the  Lord,  "If  I  whet  my  glittering 
sword,  and  my  hand  take  hold  on  judgment,  I  will 
render  vengeance  to  mine  enemies,  and  will  reward 
them  that  hate  me."  Despise  not  thou  the  gracious 
invitations  of  redeeming  love  and  mercy.  Cease  to 
incur  the  displeasure  of  Jehovah  by  doubting  the 
execution  of  his  threatenings.  While  it  is  the 
accepted  time,  fly  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
secure,  by  repentance  and  faith,  a  refuge  in  him. 
For  "  he  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting 
life,  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see 
life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  If  thou 
be  wise,  thou  shalt  be  wise  for  thyself,  but  if  thou 
scornest,  thou  alone  shalt  bear  it. 


THE  WORTH  OF  THE  SOUL. 

BT 

J.    T.    SMITH,    D.  D. 

PASTOR   OP   THE    SECOND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    BALTIMORE,    MD. 


For  what  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world  and 
lose  his  own  soul  ?  Or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his 
soul  ? — Mark  viii.  36,  37. 

These  questions  are  not  of  precisely  the  same 
import.  They  are  addressed,  indeed,  to  the  same 
individuals,  and  relate  to  the  same  subject ;  but 
the  individuals  addressed  are  supposed  to  be  placed 
in  different  circumstances,  and  the  form  of  the  ques 
tion  is  modified  accordingly.  The  first  contemplates 
the  condition  of  a  man  who  has  his  chosen  portion 
in  this  life,  and  demands  of  him  the  profit,  "  if  he 
should  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own 
soul."  The  second  contemplates  the  condition  of  a 
man  in  the  world  of  despair,  whose  soul  is  already 
lost,  and  demands  what  he  would  be  willing  to  give 
"  in  exchange  for  his  soul."  Both  questions  relate 
to  the  comparative  worth  of  the  soul.  They  affirm, 
in  the  most  emphatic  manner,  that  it  is  of  more 
value  than  the  whole  world ;  and,  upon  the  ground 
of  its  surpassing  worth,  they  press  the  great  duty 
of  labouring  first  and  chiefly  after  its  welfare.     I 

(21) 


22  THE    WORTH    OF    THE    SOUL. 

propose  to  detach  the  prominent  idea  of  the  text 
from  the  specific  relations  and  connections  in  which  it 
there  stands,  and  to  make  the  worth  of  the  soul, 
abstractly  and  absolutely  considered,  the  subject  of 
my  discourse. 

Need  I  here  say  one  word  to  secure  attention  to 
this  subject?  You  are  proud  of  your  extensive  pos- 
sessions, and  you  do  not  soon  grow  weary  in  telling 
over  the  sum  of  your  riches.  You  have  one  trea- 
sure of  great  price,  however,  which  you  may  never 
yet  have  rated  at  its  full  value.  I  propose,  in  this 
discourse,  to  estimate  the  worth  of  this  treasure,  and 
thus  to  show  how  rich  you  are.  When  such  is  my 
purpose,  may  I  not  hope  for  an  earnest  and  inter- 
ested attention  ? 

Two  distinct  and  independent  tracks  of  illustra- 
tion open  up  before  us.  We  may  enter  upon  a 
direct  inspection  of  the  soul  itself,  and  from  a  sur- 
vey of  its  nature,  its  capacities,  its  powers,  and  its 
destination,  infer  its  value ;  and  then  we  may  take 
a  wider  range,  and  gather  illustrations  from  -without, 
and  from  the  deep  interest  which  higher  orders  of 
being  take  in  its  welfare  ;  and  from  the  high  esti- 
mate which  God  places  upon  it ;  and  from  the  history 
of  its  creation ;  and  from  the  still  more  marvellous 
history  of  its  redemption,  demonstrate  still  further 
its  value. 

I.  We  are  to  sit  in  direct  inspection  upon  the  soul 
itself,  to  see  if  there  be  any  thing  in  its  nature,  or  its 
endowments,  or  its  destination,  which  may  serve  our 
purpose.     And 

1.  As  to  its  Nature.  Exhaustless  variety  is  a 
striking  characteristic  of  the  works  of  God.     It  was 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.    D.  23 

long  ago  remarked,  that  in  the  whole  universe  no 
two  things  can  be  found  exactly  alike.  Resem- 
blances we  find  every  where,  perfect  similitude  no 
where.  And  the  remark  holds  good,  not  only  of 
the  external  appearances  of  objects,  but  of  their 
intrinsic  worth.  From  the  tiniest  insect,  one  rank 
of  being  rises  above  another  in  excellence,  till  the 
whole  terminates  in  that  great  sum  of  all  excellence, 
that  grand  climax  of  all  being — God.  High  up  in 
this  scale  of  value  is  found  the  human  soul,  standing 
at  the  head  of  all  earthly  existences,  and  ranking 
just  a  little  lower  than  the  angels. 

The  human  body,  delicately,  curiously,  and  beau- 
tifully framed,  is  accounted  the  perfection  of  mate- 
rial nature — the  very  master -piece  of  the  great 
Architect.  But  the  body  feels  not,  thinks  not, 
wills  not,  acts  not.  It  is  but  the  blind  tool  of  the 
agent  within.  Emotion,  thought,  hope,  happiness, 
have  their  seat  in  the  soul.  The  soul  is  yourself, 
the  body  is  a  mere  appendage  which  you  carry  about 
with  you,  as  you  do  your  clothes.  Your  high  pre- 
rogatives, as  man,  are  all  conferred  upon  you  by  the 
soul,  and  it  alone  elevates  you  above  the  dust.  The 
body  is  built  of  the  clay  you  tread  beneath  your  feet 
The  eye,  wonderful  as  is  its  mechanism,  multiplied 
and  spirit-like  as  are  its  uses,  is  nothing  but  painted 
dust ;  and  the  whole  fabric  is  built  of  what  you  may 
see  in  the  "  deep  damp  grave."  The  confession  so 
often  on  our  lips,  "  we  are  but  worms  of  the  dust," 
is  not  the  language  of  excessive  humility.  It  is  the 
plain,  unvarnished  truth.  Whether  we  look  to  the 
origin  or  the  end  of  these,  our  tabernacles  of  clay, 
we    must   own   their   fellowship   with    the   worm. 


24  THE   WORTH    OF    THE    SOUL. 

What  material  object,  then,  can  be  compared,  as  to 
its  value,  with  the  soul?  What  utter  insignificance 
does  the  apostle  stamp  on  the  whole  material  uni- 
verse, when  he  tells  us,  u  All  these  things  shall  be 
dissolved  !" 

Next  above  material  organism  comes  animal 
instinct.  And  what  are  the  instincts  of  animals 
but  the  reason  of  God  ?  What  teaches  the  bee  to 
construct  its  cell,  and  the  spider  to  weave  its  web, 
and  the  stork  to  build  its  nest  on  high  ?  Who 
warns  the  birds  of  the  approach  of  winter,  and 
guides  them,  unerringly,  in  their  long  flights  over 
trackless  deserts  and  wide  seas,  without  map  or 
compass?  The  instinct  of  animals  is  the  reason  of 
God,  prompting  them  to  provide  for  their  present 
and  sensual  wants.  But  the  soul  is  endowed  with 
an  independent  reason.  Her  instincts  rise  out  of 
her  own  being,  up  towards  God,  and  onward  to- 
wards immortality — and  over  all,  conscience,  God's 
vicegerent,  keeps  watch  and  ward. 

The  soul  introduces  us  into  the  higher  walks  of 
existence,  giving  us  fellowship  in  the  world  of 
spirits,  and  companionship  with  God,  and  angels, 
and  "just  men  made  perfect,"  and  partnership  in 
their  pleasures — the  pleasures  of  intelligence  and  of 
virtue.  If  by  the  body  we  are  linked  to  dust,  by 
the  soul  we  are  allied  to  God.  If  by  the  body  we 
say  to  the  worm,  "  Thou  art  my  sister,"  by  the  soul 
we  are  made  the  fellows  of  seraphim !  What 
strange  extremes  unite  in  our  being!  The  con- 
necting link  between  God  and  the  inferior  creation. 
Our  foundation  in  the  dust,  we  aspire  towards 
Divinity !     The  soul  is  of  the  highest  order  of  exist- 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.    D.  25 

ence — for  God  and  angels  are  spirit.  Immeasurably 
inferior  to  these,  indeed,  in  the  appendages  and  ex- 
pansion of  its  being ;  in  nature  it  is  precisely  the 
same.  And  across  the  wide  chasm  which  now  sep- 
arates it  from  God,  his  voice  is  distinctly  heard,  and 
hopefully  responded  to — "  Be  ye  perfect,  even  as 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  What 
means  the  strange  language — "  Transformed  from 
glory  to  glory  into  the  image  of  the  Lord" — "  made 
partaker  of  the  divine  nature  ?"  We  can  pardon 
the  sublime  dream  of  Plato,  that  the  human  soul  is 
a  portion  of  the  divine  essence — a  fragment  of  Deity 
imprisoned  in  dust.  It  is  of  most  excellent  nature. 
Nothing  on  earth  equals  it — nothing  in  heaven  sur- 
passes it.     Consider, 

2.  Its  endowments.  Activity,  power,  intelligence, 
moral  agency,  infinite  progression,  are  among  its 
higher  attributes.  Passing  these,  however,  we  would 
remark  specially  upon  the  capacity  of  happiness, 
perhaps  the  highest  prerogative  of  spirit — "Man's 
chief  end  is  to  glorify  God,  and  enjoy  him  for  ever." 
If  these  ends  of  our  being  are  not  identical,  they  are 
at  least  inseparable  ;  and  the  last  grand  purjDose  of 
our  being  is  "to  enjoy." 

Happiness  is  a  thing  o'f  which  the  visible  world 
can  furnish  no  emblem  to  those  who  have  never  ex- 
perienced it.  To  be  understood  it  must  be  felt. 
The  gold  which  kindles  such  joy  in  the  miser's 
heart,  feels  not  the  emotion  it  imparts.  The  hea- 
vens, which  awaken  the  poet's  fancy,  and  expand, 
to  something  of  their  own  dimensions,  the  astrono- 
mer's intellect ;  which  point  the  devotee  upward  to 
God,  and  scatter  gladness,  beauty,  and  life  so  lav- 


26  THE   WORTH   OF   THE    SOUL. 

ishly  over  the  earth,  feel  in  themselves  nothing  of 
the  glory  or  the  gladness  they  impart.  The  sun  is 
cold  amidst  his  own  beams — the  stars  are  dark 
amidst  their  own  radiance.  Though  so  glorious  to 
us,  they  are  nothing  to  themselves.  The  earth  is 
joyless,  amidst  all  the  pulses  of  joy  which  beat  upon 
her  surface.  When  the  great  Creator  had  made 
all — air,  land,  and  sea,  and  filled  them  with  exhaust- 
less  sources  of  happiness,  he  brings  man,  places  him 
in  the  new  made  world,  and  says,  The  power  to 
enjoy  is  yours;  look  around,  above,  beneath,  all  is 
exquisitely  fitted  to  minister  to  your  pleasure. 

Every  fountain  of  happiness  in  the  outward  world 
has  some  channel  opened  up,  through  which  it  emp- 
ties itself  into  the  soul.  Has  nature  her  harmo- 
nies ? — the  ear  conveys  them  to  the  soul.  The  eye 
ranges  over  all  that  is  beautiful  and  sublime  in  the 
universe  of  God,  and  carries  back  its  discoveries  to 
the  soul.  And  thus,  by  her  organs  of  sense,  the 
soul  ranges  at  will  over  the  universe,  and  lays  all 
nature  under  contribution  to  her  happiness.  But 
she  has  sources  of  joy,  aye  and  of  sorrow  too,  within 
herself;  and  it  is  when  she  shuts  up  the  inlets  of  the 
external  world,  and  retires  within  herself,  that  she 
finds  the  highest  rapture  'or  the  profoundest  despair. 
Uncover  the  soul  of  a  saint,  see  his  perfect  peace, 
his  high  communings,  his  glorious  hopes — there  is  a 
heaven  there,  were  there  none  without !  Uncover 
the  soul  of  a  sinner,  see  his  remorse,  his  despair,  his 
malignant  passions,  his  fearful  apprehensions  of 
"  wrath  to  come,"  there  is  a  hell  there,  were  there 
none  without  ! 

The  soul's  capacity  to   suffer  and  to  enjoy  we 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.    D.  27 

cannot  fathom.  Do  you  ask,  How  much  can  I  enjoy  ? 
We  can  but  point  you  to  those  exhaustless  materials 
of  enjoyment  provided ;  to  your  memories  of  all  you 
have  enjoyed ;  to  your  imagination,  and  your  hopes ; 
the  many  forms  of  happiness  of  which  you  can  con- 
ceive, for  which  you  hope,  and  of  which  you  feel 
yourself  capable.  Nor  can  we  tell  how  much  you 
could  suffer.  Remember  your  head  aches  and 
heart  aches;  your  pains  and  your  sicknesses.  Re- 
member your  disappointments,  your  fears,  your  de- 
spair. Have  you  ever  felt  remorse  ?  But  were  the 
capacity  of  suffering  filled  to  its  full  measure,  we 
cannot  tell,  an  angel's  tongue  cannot  tell,  how  much 
you  could  suffer.  And  the  capacity  to  enjoy  and 
to  suffer,  stamps  the  soul  with  a  value  passing  all 
calculation. 

This  is  but  our  embryo  state,  and  we  cannot,  even 
in  imagination,  fix  any  limit  to  the  soul's  progres- 
sion. Give  it  a  more  delicately  constructed — a 
spiritual  body ;  give  it  senses  more  perfect  in  them- 
selves, and  in  their  adjustment  to  the  objects  of  the 
outward  world ;  let  its  eye  have  a  wider  range,  a 
more  piercing  scrutiny;  let  its  ear  be  more  finely 
attuned,  and  its  nerves  increased  in  sensibility; 
give  it  new  senses  to  discern  those  hidden  elements 
of  nature  which  now  escape  its  closest  scrutiny; 
remove  its  pride,  its  passions,  its  carnality;  and 
then,  when  fitted  for  heaven,  place  it  there.  Afar 
from  these  earthly  sources  of  pain  and  sorrow,  sur- 
rounded with  all  heaven  contains  to  happify,  and 
who  can  tell  what  it  shall  become  where  its  pro- 
gress is  ever  accelerating,  where  every  experience 
acquired  enlarges  the  basis  for  future  acquisitions, 


28  THE   WORTH   OF   THE    SOUL. 

where  every  exertion  put  forth  strengthens  for  a 
bolder  and  loftier  attainment.  Follow  its  ascend- 
ing way  on,  and  on,  till  imagination  tires,  and  then 
think  of  it  stretching  on,  and  on,  beyond  that  point 
out  through  the  untold  ages  of  eternity !     Consider, 

3.  Its  Destination.  And  here  we  might  construct 
an  impregnable  argument  for  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  out  of  the  materials  already  collected  in  this 
discourse.  The  surpassing  excellence  of  its  nature, 
and  its  high  endowments  bespeak  its  immortality. 
For  it  consorts  not  with  the  wisdom  or  the  known 
ways  of  God,  to  suppose  him  to  endow  it  thus  highly, 
and  yet  give  it  neither  time  nor  facilities  to  develope 
and  exercise  its  powers.  Why  give  it  capacities 
which  are  never  unfolded?  capabilities  which  are 
never  called  forth  ?  powers  which  can  go  out  into  no 
adequate  exercise  ?  Its  imperfect  and  undeveloped 
condition  here  is  irrefragable  evidence  of  its  exist- 
ence hereafter.  Here  it  is  the  chrysalis— there  the 
winged  angel  of  light.  This  is  its  childhood — that 
its  manhood.  Did  this  life  bound  its  being,  it  were 
but  a  gorgeous  mockery,  a  solemn  cheat. 

The  idea  of  eternity  baffles  and  confounds  concep- 
tion. You  are  foiled  in  every  attempt  to  compass 
it,  because  you  have  no  measures  by  which  to  effect 
the  computation.  Take  your  own  life  as  a  measure ; 
lay  it  along  side  of  eternity,  and  it  dwindles  away  to 
utter  nothingness  in  the  comparison.  Take  the  six 
thousand  years  which  have  elapsed  since  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  ;  multiply  them  till  numbers  fail ; 
still  you  have  not  reached  a  starting  point  in  the 
computation.  Conception  is  still  at  fault.  Years, 
ages,  cycles  of  ages,  will  not  serve  for  measures  of 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.    D.  29 

eternity.  It  absorbs  all  duration,  and  then  stretches 
on,  undiminished  and  unimpaired,  to  infinity  beyond. 
No  addition  can  increase  it;  no  subtraction  can 
lessen  it.  It  has  no  measure,  and  it  defies  all  con- 
ception. 

It  seems  a  long  time  to  the  prattling  child- to  look 
forward  to  the  gray  hairs  of  eighty  years.  It  seemed 
a  long  time  to  the  spirits  who  first  entered  the  land 
of  darkness  and  despair,  to  look  forward  through  the 
many  ages  of  pain,  and  woe,  and  wailing  which 
must  elapse  before  the  judgment  of  the  great  day. 
It  seemed  a  long  time  to  Abel,  when  he  saw  his 
name  written  first  in  heaven's  register,  to  look  for- 
ward through  unnumbered  ages  till  the  last  name 
should  be  written  there.  But  these  long  periods  of 
time  all  pass,  and  when  looked  back  upon,  seem  but 
an  hand-breadth.  But  there  is  no  past  in  eternity; 
no  future,  no  starting  point,  no  goal,  no  beginning, 
no  end.  Now  the  existence  of  the  soul  merges  into 
eternity ;  and  here  our  conception  of  it  is  lost.  It 
claims  half  the  eternity  of  God.  If  not  without  be- 
ginning of  days,  it  is  without  end  of  years.  If  not 
from  everlasting,  it  is  to  everlasting. 

How  terrible  the  thought  of  an  eternity  of  pain, 
an  immortality  in  hell !  The  sting  of  the  worm  is, 
that  it  never  dies !  The  fierceness  of  the  fire  is, 
that  it  is  not  quenched !  How  long  eternity  must 
seem  when  its  every  moment  is  lengthened  out  by 
misery  !  Imagine  a  lost  soul  ages  hence,  seated  in 
its  dungeon,  or  rolling  in  the  fiery  lake,  and  this 
may  be  its  sad  soliloquy : 

"These  limbs  are  not  yet  consumed.  I  feel  no 
symptoms  of  death.     I  am  stronger  to  suffer  to-day 


30  THE   WORTH    OF   THE    SOUL. 

than  when  I  first  felt  these  flames.  And  ever,  as 
they  burn  higher  and  hotter,  I  feel  my  strength  to 
endure,  enlarging  with  them.  I  have  tried  to  count 
the  long  years  as  they  rolled  by,  but  in  vain.  I 
cannot  tell  how  many  ages  are 'gone;  but  eternity 
is  still  to  come.  I  have  wished,  I  have  prayed,  0 ! 
how  earnestly,  for  death — but  it  mocks  my  prayer, 

'  I  feel  my  immortality  o'ersweep 
All  pains,  all  fears,  all  time,  all  years  ; 
And,  like  th'  eternal  thunders  of  the  deep, 
Proclaim  this  truth — Thou  livest  for  ever.'  " 

Brethren,  who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  the 
devouring  fire  ?  Who  among  us  shall  dwell  with 
everlasting  burnings  ?  Shall  it  be  yourself,  or  the 
neighbour,  the  friend,  the  child  sitting  by  your  side. 
Who  shall  it  be  among  us  ? 

How  transporting  the  thought  of  an  immortality 
hi  heaven !  Imagine  yourself  for  a  moment  there. 
With  many  of  you  it  will  be  but  anticipating  what 
a  few  more  days  shall  reveal.  Sit  down  amidst  the 
general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first  born 
above — amidst  patriarchs,  and  prophets,  and  apos- 
tles, and  martyrs,  the  greatly  good  of  every  age 
and  of  every  land,  who  are  all  contemporaries  there. 
Go  with  Paul  to  his  glorious  mansion — standing 
near,  perhaps  next,  to  the  throne ;  and  look  on  the 
many  mansions  in  your  Father's  house,  stretching 
off  on  every  hand  in  long  perspective !  Wander 
with  Baxter  along  the  banks  of  the  river  of  life,  as 
it  comes  gushing  from  the  throne  of  God,  and  rolls 
its  glad  waters  afar  over  the  plains  of  heaven !  Sit 
down  with  Payson  under  the  shade  of  that  tree, 
which  bears  twelve  manner  of  fruits,  and  gives  from 


J.    T.    SMITH,   D.    D.  31 

its  leaves  healing  and  immortality  to  the  nations ! 
Rejoin  the  company  of  those  who  have  gone  up  from 
your  own  fireside,  and  taken  their  crown  !  Among 
them  all  "  there  is  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow, 
nor  crying,  nor  pain."  God  himself  has  wiped 
away  tears  from  off  all  faces.  In  the  midst  of  the 
innumerable  multitude,  there  is  one  "  as  it  had  been 
a  Lamb  slain."  To  him  every  eye  is  turned ;  before 
him  every  knee  is  bowed ;  at  his  feet  every  crown  is 
cast ;  and  from  unnumbered  harps,  and  from  unnum- 
bered voices,  blended  in  heaven's  loudest,  sweetest 
song,  swells  high  the  anthem,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain" — "  unto  him  that  loved  us,  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood."  To  be 
ever  "  with  the  Lord" — this  is  the  very  heaven  of 
heaven. 
II.  In  passing  to  our  second  general  topic,  we  notice, 
1.  The  interest  manifested  for  the  soul  by  the 
higher  orders  of  beings.  We  are  not  isolated  or 
companionless  in  the  universe.  We  are  not  alone, 
with  God,  even  in  the  world.  "  Millions  of  spiritual 
beings  walk  the  earth,  both  when  we  wake  and  when 
we  sleep."  Invisible  to  us,  we  are  well  known  to 
them;  and  sharing  a  common  spirituality,  sub- 
jected to  the  same  high  authority,  children  of  the 
same  great  Parent,  they  can  have  fellowship  and 
family  sympathy  with  us.  The  powers  of  darkness, 
with  all  their  might  and  malignity,  are  leagued 
against  us.  Why  did  Satan  tempt  our  first  parents  to 
their  fall?  Why  does  he  so  impiously  usurp,  and, 
as  a  strong  man  armed,  so  desperately  defend,  the 
empire  of  the  soul  ?  All  along  the  way  to  heaven, 
is  not  every  step  contested  ?     Are  not  all  who  travel 


32  THE   WORTH   OF   THE   SOUL. 

there  called  to  the  wrestling  "  with  principalities, 
and  powers,  and  spiritual  wickednesses  in  high 
places  ?"  Have  you  ever  thought  that  the  spirits  of 
darkness  hold  a  sleepless  watch  over  you,  and 
brave  afresh  the  threatening  thunders  of  Omnipo- 
tence, to  maintain  their  mastery  over  you  ?  When 
some  subtle  suggestion  of  evil  has  glided  into  your 
mind,  or  some  sudden  and  lion-like  temptation  has 
fiercely  sprung  upon  you,  have  you  ever  thought  it 
came  from  hell — the  result  of  counsel  and  delibera- 
tion there  held  ? 

And  the  holy  angels — what  wakeful  sympathy 
and  intense  solicitude  do  they  feel  for  us  !  Minis- 
tering spirits  as  they  are,  they  leave  heaven  on  no 
errand  so  gladly,  as  to  minister  to  the  heirs  of  sal- 
vation. "  There  is  joy  in  heaven,  among  the  angels 
of  God,  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth."  The  very 
first  movement  of  repentance  in  the  sinner's  bosom, 
sends  a  wave  of  joy  over  all  their  bright  and  bliss- 
ful abodes.  "  This  our  brother  that  was  dead  is 
alive  again,  the  lost  is  found." 

Were  you,  reader,  while  your  eye  is  upon  this 
page,  to  repent,  we  can  tell  you  what  would  take 
place  in  heaven.  The  angels,  who  are  watching 
around  you,  would  send  up  some  messenger  with 
the  glad  tidings.  As  he  sped  upward  with  joyful 
haste,  the  band  who  stand  at  heaven's  gate,  or  bend 
over  its  battlements,  to  receive  messengers  from  dis- 
tant worlds,  would  descry  his  approach,  and  come 
forth  to  meet  him ;  and,  as  they  learned  the  joy- 
ful tidings  he  bore,  they  would  gather  eagerly  around 
him,  and  conduct  him  through  the  gates  into  the 
city,  and  over  its  golden  streets,  and  amidst  its  tro- 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.    D.  33 

phied  palaces,  to  the  eternal  throne.  And  all  the 
inhabitants  of  heaven  would  be  gathered,  by  procla- 
mation, about  him  there ;  and  your  name  and  your 
repentance  would  be  proclaimed  aloud ;  for  you  are 
well  known  —  known  by  name,  in  heaven;  and 
they  would  call  for  the  Book  of  life,  and  write,  or 
rather  read,  there  your  name,  and  they  would  call 
for  the  book  of  God's  remembrance,  and  blot  out 
the  record  of  your  sins ;  and  they  would  publish  and 
proclaim  your  right  to  share  with  them,  thenceforth, 
in  the  tree  of  life  and  in  the  holy  city.  And  God, 
the  eternal  Father,  would  be  well  pleased  that  an- 
other rebel  was  subdued,  another  soul  saved;  and 
Jesus,  the  blessed  Saviour,  would  see  of  the  travail 
of  his  soul,  and  be  satisfied ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
would  rejoice  over  his  new  and  glorious  creation; 
and  angels  would  rejoice,  that  their  brother,  their 
younger  brother,  whom  they  had  long  mourned  for 
as  dead,  was  alive  again ;  and  the  saints  would 
raise  high,  and  still  higher,  their  anthem,  "  Worthy 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain."  And  perchance  the 
mother  who  watched  over  your  infancy,  or  the 
father  who  counselled  your  manhood,  or  the  beloved 
friends  who  have  gone  before  you  to  the  spirit- 
world,  would  press  through  the  throng,  and  Oh  what 
speechless  joy  would  thrill  through  their  bosoms! 
And  there  would  be  joy  in  heaven,  more  joy  in 
heaven  over  you,  than  over  all  those  myriad  hosts 
of  bright  and  unransomed  spirits  who  have  kept 
their  first  estate.  "  There  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one 
sinner  that  repenteth,  more  than  over  ninety  and 
nine  just  persons  that  need  no  repentance." 

2.  Let  us  take  our  stand  upon  another  theatre — 
4 


34  THE   WORTH   OF   THE    SOUL. 

amidst  the  opening  scenes  of  creation.  For  long 
unchronicled  ages,  God  dwelt  alone,  the  sole  inhabi- 
tant of  space.  From  his  solitary  throne  he  beheld 
not  an  atom,  nor  a  living  thing;  all  was  a  mighty 
blank,  a  vast  and  empty  void.  God  spake — and, 
responsive  to  his  voice,  planets,  and  suns,  and  sys- 
tems sprang  forth  out  of  nothing.  He  poised  the 
sun  on  its  axis,  balanced  the  planets  in  his 
hand,  and  marked  out  every  star  its  pathway  in 
the  heavens ;  and  the  vast  solitude  of  space,  which 
but  yesterday  was  empty,  was  filled  with  a  uni- 
verse of  mighty,  and  moving,  and  peopled  worlds. 
He  spake,  and  the  earth  came  forth  out  of  nothing. 
It  appeared  in  a  hitherto  empty  place,  without 
foundation,  without  support;  suspended  upon  no- 
thing—a huge,  and  formless,  and  floating  chaos;  and 
a  thick  darkness,  a  moonless,  and  rayless,  and  star- 
less night,  brooded  over  it.  God  spake — and  there 
was  light.  And  the  wild  waters  flowed  together 
into  one  place,  and  the  dry  land  appeared,  clothed 
with  greenness  and  fertility,  and  order  and  beauty 
sprang  forth  from  the  very  bosom  of  chaos ;  and 
the  earth  was  fitted  up  as  a  well  appointed  man- 
sion for  living  things ;  and  exhaustless  supplies  were 
provided  and  garnered  up  for  the  provision  of  all  their 
wants.  But  as  yet  there  were  no  living  things  to 
partake  or  enjoy.  God  spake — and  air,  and  land, 
and  sea,  were  filled  with  a  crowded  population ;  the 
waters  were  stored  with  fishes,  the  fowls  ascended 
on  outspread  wings  towards  heaven,  and  the  dry 
land  was  covered  with  myriads  upon  myriads  of 
living  things,  from  the  little  insect  which  sports  in 
a  drop,  or  peoples  a  leaf,  to  the  giant  Behemoth 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.    D.  35 

which  shakes  the  solid  world  with  his  tread.  All 
these  fed  upon  the  bounty,  and  shared  in  the  good- 
ness, of  the  great  Creator ;  and  the  hum  of  activity, 
and  the  voice  of  joy  were  heard  over  all  the  peo- 
pled earth.  And  the  great  Creator  looked  down 
upon  the  world  which  he  had  made,  and  filled  with 
life,  and  sensation,  and  happiness,  and  said,  "It  is 
good !" 

And  shall  the  work  of  creation  terminate  here  ? 
Shall  nature  be  furnished  with  no  anointed  priest  ? 
Shall  God  have  no  worshippers  ?  Among  all  the 
myriad  tribes  of  his  creatures,  shall  there  be  none 
like  himself?  none  to  love,  to  reverence,  and  to 
adore  him  for  all  his  goodness  and  his  wonderful 
works  ?  And  was  it  for  soulless  creatures  of  dust,  who 
are  incapable  of  progression  here,  and  whose  existence 
must  terminate  for  ever  at  death,  that  God  reared 
up  the  mighty  fabric  of  the  universe  ?  No.  The 
work  is  not  yet  complete ;  the  last  and  crowning 
product  of  creative  power  is  yet  to  appear.  "  And 
God  said,  Let  us  make  man."  There  was  no  consul- 
tation when  the  sun  was  made — none  when  the 
heavens  were  spread  abroad  as  a  curtain,  and  em- 
broidered with  stars.  He  just  spake,  and  it  was 
done ;  he  commanded,  and  it  stood  fast.  But  now, 
when  the  lord  and  governor  of  earth  is  to  be  created, 
there  is  a  pause,  a  preparation,  a  consultation. 
Let  us  make  man.  So,  as  the  result  of  this  counsel, 
so  God  created  man.  A  simple  word  sufficed  for 
the  creation  of  all  things  else.  A  word  called  the 
earth  out  of  nothing,  and  evoked  order  out  of  chaos, 
and  the  body  of  man  out  of  dust.  But  a  far  higher 
instrumentality  is  employed  in  the  creation  of  the 


36  THE    WORTH   OF    THE    SOUL. 

soul.  "  God  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath 
of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul."  A  word  is 
a  thing  foreign  and  external  to  the  individual  utter-, 
ing  it;  a  breath  is  an  emanation  of  himself.  And  if 
all  that  God  created  by  a  word  was  alien  from  him- 
self, the  soul  is  the  very  "inspiration  of  the  Al- 
mighty." And  it  is  like  God,  modelled  after  him ; 
a  miniature  likeness  of  him,  as  finite  may  be  of  in- 
finite. "  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our 
likeness."  If  God  had  minded  his  power,  his  wis- 
dom, and  his  goodness,  in  the  other  works  of  his 
hand,  he  would  mirror  himself  entire  in  the  human 
soul.  For  nothing  but  a  spiritual  and  immortal 
nature  could  bear  the  full  image  and  superscription 
of  the  Most  High.  His  own  image  and  representa- 
tive, the  soul,  was  invested  with  God's  prerogatives 
— knowledge  and  dominion.  Every  where  else  the 
dominion  of  blind  physical  force  was  established, 
but  the  power  of  knowledge  was  conferred  upon 
man.  By  this  he  was  to  disarm  physical  force ;  curb 
and  direct  the  fury  of  the  mightiest  elements ;  sub- 
ject the  lower  tribes  of  creation  to  his  bidding ;  and 
have  the  dominion,  not  of  the  strong  arm,  but  of 
the  intelligent  will  over  all  the  earth.  Let  them, 
(thus  runs  the  great  charter,)  "  let  them  have  do- 
minion over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the 
earth."  And  when  God  had  thus  made  man  he 
said,  "  It  is  very  good."  And  he  blessed  them,  and 
"  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sons 
of  God  shouted  for  joy."  With  such  high  endow- 
ments, and  in  the  midst  of  such  august  preparations, 
Was  man  ushered  into  being,  and  proclaimed  the 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.    D.  37 

lord  and  governor  of  earth — "  a  king  and  a  priest 
unto  God  for  ever  and  ever."  Every  circumstance 
connected  with  his  creation,  from  the  pause  and  the 
consultation  which  preceded,  to  the  emphatic  "very 
good"  which  crowned  it,  shows  the  high  estimate 
which  God  placed  upon  the  spiritual  and  immortal 
nature  of  man. 

3.  Let  us  take  our  stand  upon  another  and  a 
higher  theatre ;  amidst  the  surpassing  wonders  of 
redemption.  In  creation  the  goodness  of  God  ope- 
rated freely  without  restraint  or  hindrance.  No 
attribute  of  his  own  nature,  and  nothing  without 
himself,  interposed  the  slightest  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  his  breaking  up  the  eternal  silence  and  solitude 
of  space,  and  peopling  it  with  worlds.  A  simple 
volition,  a  naked  putting  forth  of  Omnipotence,  was 
all  it  required  to  create.  He  spake  to  dust,  and 
there  rose  up  a  human  body.  He  breathed  into  that 
body,  and  man  became  a  living  soul;  that  is  all 
man's  creation  cost  him.  But  in  redemption  there 
were  hindrances  in  the  way;  hindrances  which 
Omnipotence  alone  could  not  remove.  There  was 
a  compensation  to  be  made,  a  satisfaction  to  be  ren- 
dered, a  harmony  to  be  adjusted  among  the  divine 
attributes,  and  a  security  to  be  obtained  for  the 
highest  interests  of  all  God's  intelligent  creation, 
before  Omnipotence  could  stretch  forth  its  arm  to 
redeem.  The  very  term  redemption  has  a  relation 
to  price ;  and  from  the  cost  of  the  soul  we  may  deter- 
mine its  real  value.  For  it  is  a  known  law  of  divine 
action,  that  means  are  always  accurately  adjusted 
to  ends — that  more,  or  more  costly  means,  are  never 
employed  than  those  which  are  necessary  to  effect 


38  THE   WORTH   OF   THE    SOUL. 

the  end ;  and  the  price  paid  for  the  soul  is  thus  a 
fair  and  an  infallible  index  to  its  value. 

Now,  we  know  the  cost  of  the  soul's  redemption. 
"  Thou  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood,"  is 
the  song  of  the  redeemed  in  heaven.  "  Ye  were  not 
redeemed  with  corruptible  things,  such  as  silver  and 
gold,  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ."  Where 
shall  we  find  terms  or  illustrations  wherewith  to  set 
forth  the  greatness  of  this  price  ?  Does  not  the  apos- 
tle plainly  intimate  that  we  have  no  ideas  at  all  ade- 
quate to  this  subject,  when  he  tells  us  that  we  were 
not  redeemed  with  corruptible  things,  such  as  silver 
and  gold.  It  is  by  these  "  corruptible  things"  our 
ideas  of  value  are  represented.  But  "  they  that 
trust  in  their  wealth,  and  boast  themselves  in  the 
multitude  of  their  riches" — the  Barings  and  the 
Rostchilds  of  the  earth — "  none  of  them  can  by  any 
means  redeem  his  brother,  or  give  to  God  a  ransom 
for  him."  Let  the  princes  of  the  earth  heap  their 
gold,  and  their  silver,  and  their  precious  stones 
together;  let  the  earth  disembowel  herself  of  her 
treasures,  and  the  ocean  give  up  her  gems — and  they 
cannot  redeem  a  soul,  for  "  the  redemption  of  the 
soul  is  precious,"  too  costly  to  be  bought  at  such  a 
price.  It  was  himself  the  great  Redeemer  gave  for 
us  !  Not  a  single  act  of  obedience,  or  of  suffering ; 
not  a  treasure  from  his  coffers,  or  a  limb  from  his 
body,  or  a  single  pang  of  his  Immanuel-mind — but 
himself.     "  He  loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us." 

Come,  then,  and  view  this  "  unspeakable  gift." 
Come  with  angels,  and  see  the  great  Redeemer 
stooping  down  from  the  throne  of  Godhead,  laying- 
aside   his  kingly   crown,  emptying   himself  of  the 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.    D.  39 

worship  and  the  blessedness  of  heaven.  We  know 
something  of  what  he  stooped  to,  but  how  little  we 
know  of  what  he  stooped  from  ;  how  little  we  know 
of  what  he  forsook !  Come  with  the  shepherds  to 
the  manger  of  Bethlehem.  And  has  the  Lord  of 
life  and  glory  stooped  so  low  ?  If  an  angel  should 
voluntarily  become  a  man,  or  a  man  a  worm,  it  were 
for  a  wonder.  But  for  Christ  to  descend  so  low — 
to  cross  the  infinite  chasm  which  separates  him 
from  the  loftiest  angel — to  pass  below  angels — to  de- 
scend the  chain  of  being  so  far — to  stoop  from  the 
majesty  and  blessedness  of  Deity  down  to  the 
weakness  and  the  infirmities  of  humanity — this 
passes  wonder !  God  became  man — a  stable,  a 
manger — not  even  a  palace  or  a  tapestried  chamber. 
No  wonder  the  shepherds  said  one  to  another,  "  Let 
us  now  go  even  to  Bethlehem,  and  see  this  thing 
which  has  there  come  to  pass."  Come  with  the 
chosen  disciples  to  Gethsemane.  See  the  God-man 
stretched  all  night  long. in  agony  upon  the  ground ! 
See  the  sweat,  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood, 
gushing  forth  and  bathing  his  body.  Listen  to  his 
cries  of  anguish,  i{  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful, 
even  unto  death."  "  0 !  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass  from  me  !"  "  Was  ever  sorrow  like 
unto  his  sorrow  ?"  Come  with  the  disciples  to  Cal- 
vary. See  the  victim,  whom  they  have  scourged 
and  condemned  to  death,  approach.  A  crown  of 
thorns  is  pressed  upon  his  bleeding  brow — a  heavy 
cross  is  laid  upon  his  lacerated  shoulders — and  the 
rabble  of  Jerusalem  are  following  him,  with  cruel 
mockings,  as  he  is  dragged  along  through  the  streets. 
"  It  is  their  hour,  and  the  power  of  darkness !"  They 


40  THE    WORTH   OF    THE    SOUL. 

drive  the  nails  into  his  hands,  and  feet,  and  then 
thrust  the  spear  into  his  side.  For  six  hours  he 
hangs  upon  the  accursed  tree  —  bleeding,  dying. 
There  was  not  a  friend  to  be  near,  or  to  comfort  him 
then.  Pharisees,  and  Sadducees,  and  Jewish  priests, 
and  Koman  soldiers  gathered,  in  stern  array,  around 
his  cross,  and  wagged  their  heads  upon  him.  He 
complains  not  of  the  friends  who  had  forsaken  him, 
nor  of  the  enemies  who  so  cruelly  entreat  him ;  nor 
of  the  nails  or  the  spear,  the  vinegar  or  the  gall. 
But  one  cry  of  anguish  escapes  him,  "  My  God  !  my 
God  !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  !"  To  be  forsaken 
of  God — that  was  the  cup  he  trembled  to  drink — 
yet  he  did  drink  it  to  its  very  dregs. 

But  why  all  this  ?  "  God  so  loved  the  world  as 
to  give  his  only  begotten  Son"  for  its  redemption. 
Not  that  he  needed  the  world,  for  the  word  which 
created  could  destroy.  His  breath  could  have 
blotted  it  out  of  the  universe,  and  called  into  being 
ten  thousand  other  worlds,  unblighted  by  the  curse, 
and  peopled  by  beings  higher  and  holier  than  we. 
What  was  that  world  which  God  so  loved  ?  Not 
this  material  world,  for  it  is  but  dust,  and  soon  will 
be  burned  with  fire.  Not  these  bodies,  for  they  too 
are  dust,  and  soon  will  be  nothing  but  food  for  grave- 
worms.  What  was  that  world  which  God  so  loved? 
That  miniature  world  in  your  own  bosom.  In  his 
estimation  it  was  too  precious  to  be  lost — too  pre- 
cious to  be  annihilated;  and  he  gave  the  most 
hoarded  and  priceless  treasure  in  his  whole  empire 
to  purchase  it ;  and  Christ  from  the  throne  of  hea- 
ven stooped  down  to  the  pain  and  the  ignominy  of 
the  cross  to  redeem  your  soul. 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.    D.  41 

But  the  payment  of  the  purchase-price  alone  can- 
not redeem  the  captive.  It  is  the  office  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  embellish  and  beautify.  He  is  at  once  the 
beautifying  spirit  of  the  material,  and  the  sanctify- 
ing spirit  of  the  moral,  universe.  Where  he  comes 
not,  all  is  darkness  and  chaos ;  where  he  comes,  all 
is  light,  and  order,  and  beauty.  In  the  first  creation 
the  earth  "  was  without  form  and  void,"  and  "  dark- 
ness was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep,"  until  the  Spirit 
came  and  brooded  over  the  chaotic  waters.  In  the 
new  creation,  he  fits  up  a  world  of  moral  light  and 
beauty  out  of  darkness  and  chaos.  The  soul  is  in 
ruins ;  her  jarring  and  discordant  powers  at  war 
with  each  other,  and  with  God ;  and  the  darkness  of 
ignorance,  of  error,  and  of  sin,  broods  gloomily  over 
her.  The  Spirit  descends,  and  moves  upon  this  spi- 
ritual chaos  ;  rebuilds  and  embellishes ;  and,  though 
active  voluntary  resistance  is  put  forth  against  him, 
though  often  grieved,  and  often  quenched,  never 
tires  in  his  work,  until  the  soul  is  crowned  with 
more  than  its  pristine  honour  and  glory,  and  fitted 
for  the  "  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light."  Even 
in  her  deepest  degradation  the  whole  Godhead 
gather  around  the  soul,  to  raise  it  up  again  to  hea- 
venly places ;  and  in  the  mystery  of  its  redemp- 
tion we  find  the  grand  crowning  evidence  of  the 
worth  of  the  soul. 

Allow  me,  in  conclusion,  to  gather  up  this  whole 
subject,  and  throw  its  entire  weight,  as  an  emphasis 
upon  the  question  of  our  text  — "  What  shall  it 
profit  a  man,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and 
lose  his  own  soul  ?"  It  is  but  a  small  portion  of  the 
world  any  one  individual  can  hope  to  possess.     You, 


42  THE   WORTH    OF   THE    SOUL. 

however,  are  supposed  to  obtain  the  whole.  The 
dream  of  universal  dominion  is  realized  by  you. 
You  are  crowned  a  monarch ;  the  broad  earth  is 
your  empire,  and  you  reign  without  a  rival  or  a  foe. 
Every  land  pours  its  treasures  into  your  coffers. 
Gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones  glitter  around 
you.  The  luxuries  of  every  climate  are  spread 
profusely  upon  your  table.  Crowds  of  obsequious 
servants  anticipate  your  slightest  wish.  "When  you 
appear,  in  your  gilded  equipage,  among  the  multi- 
tude, they  say,  "It  is  a  God."  And  to  the  remotest 
corner  of  your  empire — in  the  snow  huts  of  the  pole, 
and  under  the  spreading  palms  of  the  south — your 
praises  are  sung,  and  all  delight  to  "  do  you  reverence." 
They  watch  your  slightest  look,  and  chronicle  your 
every  word,  and  obey  your  every  nod.  Pleasure  waits 
evermore  in  your  train,  and  holds  her  enchanted  cup 
continually  to  your  lips ;  and  you  have  no  wish  un- 
ratified, no  hope  unfulfilled — for  you  have  gained 
the  whole  world.  And  what  will  all  this  profit  you, 
if  you  lose  your  own  soul  ?  Will  it  fill  the  aching 
void  within  ?  Will  it  ease  you  of  a  single  pang  ? 
Will  it  rob  death  of  his  sting?  Will  it  pour  the 
light  of  life  and  immortality  into  the  darkness  of 
the  grave  ?  Will  it  buy  you  a  single  drop  of  water, 
when  you  are  tormented  in  the  quenchless  flames  ? 
Will  it  bribe  you  an  entrance,  through  the  gates,  into 
the  city  ?  And  where  will  be  your  empire,  when 
the  world  and  all  things  therein  shall  be  burned  with 
fire?  You  may  now  feel  but  little  solicitude  about 
your  salvation.  Amidst  the  pressure  of  your  busi- 
ness, and  the  hurry  of  your  pursuits,  and  the  tu- 
mult of  your  passions,  heaven  and  hell  may  seem 


J.    T.    SMITH,    D.   D.  43 

too  far  off  to  demand  much  attention.  Amidst  the 
clamourings  of  the  appetites,  and  the  distractions  of 
the  outward  world,  the  soul  may  seem  too  impal- 
pable— its  wants  and  its  aspirations  too  ethereal — 
its  rewards  and  its  punishments  too  spiritual,  to  share 
largely  in  your  thoughts.  There  is  a  strange  mad- 
ness in  the  human  heart.  While  all  heaven  and  all 
hell  are  bending  over  you  with  unutterable  solici- 
tude, and  enlisting  their  sympathies  and  their  mighty 
activities  in  your  cause,  shall  you  alone  be  thought- 
less and  indifferent  amidst  all  the  movements  which 
are  circling  around  you?  Have  you  alone  no  in- 
terest at  stake  ?  Why  stand  you  here  all  the  day 
idle?  Just  starving  for  the  bread  of  life,  wherefore 
"spend  your  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread?" 
Your  eternal  salvation  to  work  out,  wherefore  "  spend 
your  labour  for  that  which  satisfieth  not?"  Can  you 
sleep  under  the  uplifted  thunderbolts  of  angry  Om- 
nipotence ?  Can  you  go  smiling  and  sportive  onward, 
when  "  your  way  is  dark  and  leads  to  hell  ?"  "  Awake, 
thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ 
shall  give  thee  light." 


THE  FAITHFUL  SAYING. 

BY 

WILLIS  LORD,   D.   D. 

PROFESSOR  IN   THE    THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY,    CINCINNATI,    OHIO. 


This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners. — 1  Tim.  i.  15. 

Let  us  analyze  this  saying.  Let  us  separate  its 
ideas,  that  we  may  give  to  each  a  distinct,  though 
brief,  consideration.  Let  us  seriously  mark  their 
aspect  and  bearing  with  reference  to  our  own  cha- 
racter, course  and  destiiry. 

I.  "Christ  Jesus  came."  We  bid  you  notice  this 
fact  as  essential  to  the  power  and  glory  of  the  evan- 
gelic doctrine.  The  grandeur  of  the  person  gives 
grandeur  to  the  truth  affirmed  concerning  him. 

For  whom  do  the  words  "  Christ  Jesus"  desig- 
nate ?  Beyond  question,  the  Son  of  God.  They 
do  indeed  express  only  the  name  he  bore  after  the 
incarnation ;  but  by  constant  usage  of  the  scriptures, 
they  then  denote  the  person  who  became  incarnate. 
Differing  modes  of  existence  and  manifestation  did 
not  destroy  the  divine  and  eternal  personality. 
The  Word  was  made  flesh,  but  in  the  flesh  thus 
made  he  was  still  the  Avord. 

The  affirmation,  then,  is  of  a  divine  person — the 
Son  of  God — second  in  the  mysterious  subsistence 

(44) 


WILLIS    LORD,    D.    D.  45 

of  the  infinite  three.  He  came.  Not  an  angel  of 
light;  not  a  saint  in  glory;  not  Gabriel,  who 
ministered  peradventure  nearest  the  burning  throne  ; 
not  Moses  or  Isaiah,  most  exalted  perhaps  among 
the  redeemed.  No — not  they;  but  He  came  by 
whose  power  Gabriel  and  his  angelic  associates  were 
created,  and  by  whose  blood  the  lawgiver  and  the 
prophet  alike  were  saved.  At  that  sublime  moment, 
when  the  eternal  counsels  were  about  to  be  express- 
ed in  the  great  acts  of  redemption,  and  because 
the  exigencies  of  lost  men  transcended  the  wisdom 
and  power  of  all  creatures,  it  was  the  voice  of  Christ 
Jesus  which  broke  upon  the  silence  of  heaven — 
"  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  0  God !" 

The  fact  is  incontestable — its  importance  and 
grandeur  infinite.  For  how  can  the  purpose  and 
endeavours  of  such  an  one  fail  ?  What  possible 
contingencies  can  arise,  not  foreseen  by  his  omnis- 
cience ?  What  combination  of  difficulties  so  great, 
that  they  must  not  vanish  before  his  wisdom  and 
power  ?  If  God  undertake  for  the  lost,  no  matter 
how  extreme  and  appalling  their  state,  they  will 
be  rescued. 

This  truth,  we  repeat,  is  essential.  It  is  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Christian  system.  If  the  victim  on 
Calvary  was  not  the  incarnate  Word — God  though 
man,  and  man  though  God — the  hope  of  salvation, 
by  his  obedience  and  death,  is  a  dream.  It  may  be 
thought  by  some  consoling,  inspiring,  joyous,  but 
it  is  a  dream,  to  be  dissipated  for  ever  when  wo 
enter  the  grave.  There  never  was  a  more  absurd 
notion,  than  that  salvation  can  be  achieved  for  sin- 
ners by  a  creature.      Show  me  that  Christ  Jesus 


46  THE   FAITHFUL    SAYING. 

was  not  truly  divine,  and,  by  the  same  argument,  I 
will  show  you  that  he  cannot  be  a  Saviour.  And 
if  he  be  not,  who  is  ?  What  shall  dying  men  do, 
if  they  may  not  rest  their  souls  on  Christ,  as  the 
Son  of  God — the  brightness  of  the  divine  glory,  and 
the  express  image  of  the  divine  person  ?  What  can 
they  do,  but  die  without  hope — yea,  die  for  ever ! 

II.  This  divine  Being  came,  continues  the  text, 
into  the  world  ;  i.e.  into  this  world. 

Very  many  worlds  God  has  made,  of  still  greater 
extent  and  magnificence  than  this,  to  circle  with  it, 
in  its  majestic  course  around  the  centre  of  the  sys- 
tem ;  but  in  no  other  have  been  enacted  the  scenes 
of  redemption.  It  is  an  exclusive  distinction  of  this 
world,  that  by  the  Church  redeemed  and  existing  on 
its  bosom,  is  made  known  unto  principalities  and 
powers  in  heavenly  places,  the  manifold  wisdom  of 
God,  according  to  the  eternal  purpose,  which  he 
purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.  Bethlehem  and 
Calvary  are  here.  The  garden  of  that  untold  agony 
— the  sepulchre,  hewn  out  in  the  rock,  where  the 
Prince  of  life  lay  in  the  embrace  of  death — the 
Mount  of  Olives,  whence  he  ascended,  leading  cap- 
tivity captive — all  these  are  here. 

The  influences  of  the  cross  doubtless,  indeed,  reach 
to  the  outmost  limits  of  God's  vast  creation,  making 
manifest,  as  could  have  been  done  by  nothing  else, 
the  wisdom,  love,  power  and  glory  of  Jehovah.  But 
here  the  cross  was  reared.  Its  base  was  imbedded 
in  the  soil  of  earth ;  its  top  was  fanned  by  the  air 
and  bathed  in  the  light  which  fall  upon  us.  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  this  world  ! 

How  did  he  come  ? 


WILLIS   LORD,    D.    D.  47 

Not  merely,  does  the  apostle  mean  to  say,  in  his 
essential  and  universal  presence,  as  God.  In  this 
sense  our  world  has  been  his  dwelling-place  from 
the  morning  of  creation.  His  arm  has  upheld  the 
stupendous  structure.  His  power  has  constantly 
renewed  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  carried  forward 
all  the  processes  and  operations  of  nature.  For  as 
he  created,  so  does  he  sustain  all  things  by  the 
word  of  his  power ;  by  him  all  things  consist. 

Nor  did  he  come,  does  the  apostle  mean  to  say, 
in  the  form  and  presence,  which  anciently  he  so 
often  assumed,  as  the  angel  of  the  covenant.  It 
was  thus  he  appeared  to  the  patriarchs  and  saints 
of  former  dispensations.  It  was  thus  he  was  present 
with  Abraham  at  that  strange  sacrifice  on  Moriah, 
and  the  day  before  the  fiery  overthrow  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah.  It  was  thus  he  revealed  himself  to 
Jacob  at  Peniel,  in  that  wondrous  conflict  wherein 
the  patriarch  prevailed  with  God.  It  was  thus  he 
went  before  his  people  in  the  wilderness,  when  he 
said,  Surely  they  are  my  people,  they  will  not  lie ; 
so  he  was  their  Saviour.  In  all  their  affliction  he 
was  afflicted,  and  the  angel  of  his  presence  saved 
them,  and  he  bore  them,  and  carried  them  all  the 
days  of  old. 

It  was  another  and  more  marvellous  presence  of 
the  Son  of  God  the  apostle  contemplates — his  pres- 
ence by  incarnation  in  the  son  of  Mary,  in  reference 
to  which  the  angel  said  to  the  shepherds,  "  Unto  you 
is  born  this  day  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the 
Lord."  "  Who  being  in  the  form  of  God,  and 
thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,  made 
himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the 


48  THE    FAITHFUL    SAYING. 

form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of 
men."  For  "forasmuch  as  the  children  are  par- 
takers of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  likewise  took 
part  of  the  same."  And  so  "  the  Word  which  was  in 
the  beginning  writh  God,  the  Word  which  wTas  Gocl,  by 
whom  all  things  were  made,  and  without  whom  was 
nothing  made  which  was  made ;  the  Word  became 
flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we  saw  his  glory, 
the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full 
of  grace  and  truth." 

In  this  manner  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world."  It  is  a  stupendous  truth.  It  would  exceed 
belief,  as  it  does  comprehension,  did  it  not  rest  on 
the  testimony  of  God ;  and  if,  furthermore,  immeas- 
urably vast  and  mysterious  as  it  is,  wTe  could  not  see 
its  divine  adaptation  and  imperative  necessity  in  re- 
ference to  us  as  sinners.  We  have  been  startled, 
my  brethren,  at  recent  and  passing  political  events. 
They  seem  to  us  great — momentous.  To  see  kings 
abdicating;  thrones  and  princedoms  falling;  the 
masses,  so  long  trampled  beneath  the  hoofs  of  power, 
rising ;  and  then  the  re-action,  the  crushing  again  of 
hope,  the  re-ascendance  of  despotism,  and  the  sup- 
pressed Leavings  of  outraged  humanity,  while  the 
whole  aspect  of  human  things  becomes  dark  and 
perilous — oh,  how  all  this  engrosses  the  minds  of 
thoughtful  men !  And  yet  inexpressibly  tame, 
trivial,  empty,  are  these  things,  in  comparison  with 
the  unique,  unparalleled,  infinite  truth,  that  "  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world;"  that  being  God,  he  was 
found  in  fashion  as  a  man ;  that  occupying  the 
throne,  and  receiving  the  adorations  of  the  universe, 
he  came  down  to  the  dependance  of  a  creature  and 


WILLIS   LORD,   D.    D.  49 

the  reproach  of  worms ;  that  the  source  of  all  au- 
thority, he  made  himself  subject  to  law ;  and  the 
fountain  of  all  life,  he  came  under  the  power  of 
death  ;  that,  compelled  by  no  perils  that  were  invad- 
ing his  presence,  but  moved  by  the  miseries  which 
were  overwhelming  us,  he  came ;  that,  the  King  of 
kings,  and  the  Lord  of  lords,  he  came  to  raise  us  to 
his  own  blessedness,  to  invest  us  with  his  own  glory, 
to  make  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  for  ever ! 

For  mark,  now,  the  complete   statement  of  the 
text,  that, 

III.  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners  /"     We  must  form  our  estimate  of  Christian- 
ity from  its  real  nature  and  design.     If  we  conceive 
of  it  wrongly,  we  shall  judge  of  it  unfairly.     In  its 
influence  indeed  on  all  the  faculties,  and  all  the  in- 
terests  of  men,  it   bears  the  proof   of   its  divine 
source,  and  of  its  power  for  good.     It  has  amelior- 
ated the  physical  condition  of  the  race ;  it  has  given 
impulse    and   expansion  to  the  mental  powers ;    it 
has  imparted  tenderness  and  purity  to  the  social  and 
domestic  affections.     Civilization  has  followed  in  its 
progress.     Commerce  and  the  arts  have  flourished 
in  its  presence.     Literature  and  science  have  felt  no 
other  influence  so  genial  and  enriching.     Where  it 
has  reigned,  law  has  become  the  expression  of  justice, 
and  government  the  safeguard  of  liberty.     It  is  im- 
possible to  over-estimate  the  legitimate  and  benign 
effects  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  on  the  entire  condi- 
tion of  men,  as  the  denizens  of  this  world,  as  well 
as  the  heirs  of  immortality. 

But,  then,  these  effects  have  all  been  indirect  and 
secondary,  as  compared  with  the  main  purpose  for 

which  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  this  world."     That 
5 


50  THE   FAITHFUL    SAYIXG. 

purpose  was  "  to  save  sinners."  If  you  contemplate 
his  mission  and  work  apart  from  the  light  of  this 
vast  central  truth,  you  may  yet  see  much  in  them  to 
admire,  but  you  will  fail  to  comprehend  their  real 
grandeur  and  glory.  Jesus  Christ,  my  brethren,  was 
far  more  than  a  social  or  civil  reformer,  attempting 
to  dry  up  the  streams  of  human  degradation  and 
misery,  while  he  left  untouched  their  prolific  and 
inexhaustible  fountain.  He  was  far  more  than  a 
master  in  philosophy,  who  came  to  solve  the  problems 
of  science,  and  elaborate  systems  of  morals  and  meta- 
physics, after  the  manner  of  Plato  or  Aristotle.  He 
was  far  more  than  a  jurisconsult  or  statesman,  whose 
mission  it  was  to  announce  legal  and  political  max- 
ims, and  propose  models  of  constitutions  and  govern- 
ments. He  was  a  Saviour  !  The  objects  of  his  grace 
were  sinners.  They  had  broken  the  law  of  God. 
They  had  incurred  his  holy  displeasure.  They  had 
yielded  themselves  as  the  bond-slaves  of  Satan.  They 
were  therefore  sinking,  helpless  and  hopeless,  to  eter- 
nal ruin.     Christ  Jesus  came  to  save  them. 

How  save  them  ?  In  the  evangelic  sense,  what 
is  salvation?  The  inquiry  is  important.  In  the 
scriptures  themselves  the  term  is  relative.  It  is 
sometimes  used  without  any  reference  to  that  great 
spiritual  an'd  eternal  deliverance  contemplated  here. 
A  man  may  be  saved  from  sickness,  danger,  fear ; 
from  a  great  variety  of  evils,  merely  temporal.  The 
term,  therefore,  must  have  its  meaning  in  each  sev- 
eral instance,  from  that  of  which  it  is  the  contrast. 
Christ  Jesus  came  to  save  sinners.  Salvation,  then, 
in  this  case,  must  be  understood  by  the  present  charac- 
ter and  condition  of  those  who  are  to  be  its  subjects. 


WILLIS   LORD,    D.    D.  51 

Who,  then,  and  what  are  sinners  ?  In  what  condi- 
tion are  they  ?  They  are  those  who  have  apostatized 
from  God,  and  broken  his  law.  That  law  is  perfect, 
eternal,  unchanging.  Its  demands  can  never  be  miti- 
gated— its  sanctions  must  be  enforced.  It  is  prepos- 
terous to  think  of  any  other  alternative.  The  earth 
and  the  heavens  may  pass  away,  but  the  law  of  God, 
in  its  undiminished  authority  and  extent,  and  its  re- 
tributive power,  must  remain  for  ever.  It  cannot 
pass  away. 

The  effect  of  this  violation  of  the  law  is  twofold. 
In  the  first  place,  it  changes  the  relations  of  men 
to  the  divine  government.  They  are  thenceforth 
condemned.  The  fearful  penalty  of  sin  is  denounced 
against  them.  Its  execution  may  be  delayed,  but 
at  length  it  must  come.  From  the  absolute  perfec- 
tion of  the  law,  there  is  no  possibility,  for  one  who 
has  sinned,  of  regaining  his  position  and  immunities 
as  an  innocent  man.  Guilty  he  must  remain.  The 
penalty,  therefore,  must  be  exacted.  It  is  eternal 
death. 

In  the  second  place,  it  changes  the  affections  of 
men  towards  God.  The  very  nature  of  the  soul  is 
vitiated  by  sin.  What  was  pure  and  perfect  becomes 
defaced  and  polluted.  Love  to  God  gives  place  to 
aversion  and  hate.  All  the  moral  faculties  are  per- 
verted and  defiled.  Selfishness  becomes  the  master 
principle  or  affection.  Self,  the  reigning  God.  If  the 
divine  law,  therefore,  did  not  forever  bar  sinners  from 
heaven,  and  subject  them  to  woe,  their  own  depraved 
nature  and  sinful  passions  would. 

The  salvation  of  sinners,  consequently,  has  respect  to 
their  legal  condemnation,  and  their  moral  depravity. 


OZ  THE   FAITHFUL    SAYING. 

To  be  effectual,  it  must  remove  the  curse  of  the  law 
which  is  upon  them,  and  it  must  form  them  anew  in 
the  likeness  of  God.  Under  this  conception  of  it, 
"  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners." 
Immense,  we  repeat,  and  never  enough  valued,  are 
the  benign  influences  of  his  coming  and  work  on  the 
social,  intellectual,  and  political  condition  and  pros- 
pects of  men.  He  gave  the  most  salutary  precepts. 
He  enjoined  and  exemplified  the  most  pure  and  hea- 
venly affections.  He  announced  the  essential  princi- 
ples of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  demanded  of  all 
men,  through  all  time,  affectionate  and  holy  submis- 
sion. His  words  have  been  light  to  the  mind,  and 
life  to  the  soul.  Wherever  they  have  been  permitted 
to  go  forth  in  their  fulness  and  purity,  they  have 
regenerated  society,  and  remodelled  governments. 
They  are  achieving  social  and  civil  results  now,  in 
view  of  which  hoary  oppression  trembles.  0 !  if 
while  they  are  giving  to  the  masses  the  knowledge 
of  their  rights,  they  shall  also  be  received  far  enough 
to  awaken  within  them  the  sense  of  their  responsi- 
bilities— to  lead  them  to  identify  rational  and  endur- 
ing liberty  with  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  God — who  can  express  wThat  scenes  of 
prosperity  and  happiness  may  yet  appear  !  If  men 
will  obey  the  gospel— Europe,  yes,  the  world  shall 
be  gloriously  free.  If  they  will  not  do  this,  agita- 
tion and  revolution  are  in  vain.  Despotism  may  in- 
deed give  place,  at  every  now  and  then,  but  only  to 
a  more  desolating  anarchy.  And  anarchy,  after  a 
little,  will  lash  itself  into  exhaustion,  and  subside  in 
the  embrace  of  a  still  more  absolute  despotism.  The 
essential  elements  and  means  of  social  well-being, 


WILLIS    LORD.    D.    D.  53 

mental  elevation,  and  political  freedom,  are  in  the  in* 
strnctions  and  institutions  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  mission,  however,  of  the  divine  Redeemer  re- 
lated directly  and  chiefly  to  the  souls  of  men.  He 
came  to  save  sinners.  Is  it  inquired  again,  How  save 
them  ?  The  answer  is,  by  delivering  them  from  the 
condemnation  of  the  broken  law,  and  by  renewing 
them  after  the  image  of  God,  in  righteousness  and 
true  holiness.  This  is  salvation.  Less  than  this 
is  not  salvation. 

But  this  question,  thus  answered,  throws  us  back 
on  a  greater  question.  How  can  sinful  men  be  de- 
livered from  the  curse  of  the  law  ?  Helpless  they 
are.  They  cannot  meet  its  demands.  They  cannot 
satisfy,  except  by  enduring  its  terrific  penalty.  While 
they  are  condemned  by  it,  and  utterly  without 
strength,  it  must  remain,  in  its  precepts  and  its  sanc- 
tions, unchanging  and  eternal.  How,  then,  can  sin- 
ners be  saved? 

In  the  verdict  of  enlightened  reason,  two  condi- 
tions must  concur  in  order  to  this  result. 

The  principle  of  substitution  must  have  a  place  in 
the  government  of  God.  As  by  no  possibility  those 
who  are  condemned  by  the  law,  can  deliver  them- 
selves from  its  curse,  it  results,  that  if  they  are  saved 
at  all,  it  must  be  by  the  interposition  of  some  one 
not  thus  condemned,  in  their  behalf,  who  can  and 
will  meet  for  them  its  claims  and  its  penalties.  If 
in  their  case  there  can  be  no  substitution,  there  can 
be  no  salvation. 

This  substitution,  moreover,  must  be  made  by  one 
whose  personal  character  is  not  only  holy,  as  for  in- 
stance, an  unfallen  angel,  but  who  also  is  not  origin- 


54  THE    FAITHFUL    SATING. 

ally  subject  to  the  law .  It  would  be  manifestly  im- 
possible for  any  one,  whose  own  obedience  was  de- 
manded, and  to  the  extent  (as  from  the  essential  per- 
fection of  the  law  it  must  be)  of  all  his  affections  and 
faculties,  to  render  an  obedience  in  behalf  of  others. 
This  condition,  therefore,  excludes  every  creature, 
whether  man  or  angel,  from  the  work  of  saving  sin- 
ners ;  for  every  creature  is  under  law — under  law 
which  exacts  and  exhausts  his  whole  powers  in 
obedience  for  himself.  To  find  that  a  qualified  sub- 
stitute for  the  guilty,  we  must  go  beyond  the  sphere 
where  the  law  of  God  has  jurisdiction  !  And  where 
is  that  ?  Oh  !  where  is  that  ?  No  where,  except 
within  the  splendors  of  the  uncreated  glory !  No 
where,  except  with  reference  to  Him  who  sits  upon 
Godhead's  throne  !  The  result  is  clear  and  irresista- 
ble.  There  must  be  a  divine  Saviour,  or  there  can 
be  no  Saviour ! 

The  inquiry  was  one  of  infinite  moment;  will 
God  interpose?  Will  He,  whom  we  have  sinned 
against,  and  by  whom  we  are  so  righteously  con- 
demned, will  he,  can  he,  interpose  ?  Thanks  unto 
his  name,  grateful  as  we  can  render  and  eternal  as 
our  being,  God  has  interposed  !  "  Christ  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners !"  The  simple,  yet 
wonderful  announcement,  involves  all  that  we  have 
thus  represented  as  indispensable  to  salvation.  For 
gather  up  now  into  one  view  what  it  does  involve. 

The  Word  was  God.  He  was  God  before  he  came 
in  the  flesh.  He  remained  God  after  he  thus  came. 
The  two  natures,  in  mysterious  union,  constituted 
one  divine  person,  Jesus  Christ.  He  owed  no  obe- 
dience to  the  law,  therefore,  on  his  own  account. 


WILLIS   LORD,    D.   D.  55 

He  was  the  supreme  Lawgiver.  His  subjection  to 
it  was  voluntary,  even  when  he  became  incarnate. 
He  was  made  under  the  law,  not  as  the  inseparable 
result  of  his  being  born  of  a  woman,  but  according 
to  his  own  will,  that  he  might  redeem  them  which 
were  under  the  law.  His  whole  obedience,  therefore, 
and  his  whole  endurance,  were  available  for  those  for 
whom  he  obeyed  and  suffered. 

For  this  interposition  of  the  divine  Redeemer  was 
not  for  himself.  It  was  vicarious.  It  was  made  on 
the  declared  principle  of  substitution — the  just  for  the 
unjust.  Indeed,  as  it  could  not  be  on  his  own  ac- 
count, who  had  never  sinned,  and  needed  no  salva- 
tion, it  must  have  been  for  the  sake  of  others.  And 
so  the  constant  testimony  is,  "  he  bore  oar  griefs  and 
carried  our  sorrows.  The  chastisement  of  our  peace 
was  upon  him."  "  He  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body 
on  the  tree." 

Substitution  involves  imputation.  The  two  are 
inseparable.  They  are  essential  parts  of  one  whole. 
If  Christ  obeyed  the  divine  law,  and  endured  its 
penalty  in  my  stead,  and  for  my  benefit,  that  obedi- 
ence and  endurance  are  mine,  by  being  set  to  my  ac- 
count ;  or  what  is  precisely  the  same  thing,  by  being 
imputed  to  me.  And  this  truth  is  perfectly  intelli- 
gible. Men  recognise  it,  and  act  in  accordance  with 
it,  in  the  most  common,  as  well  as  the  most  weighty, 
affairs  of  life.  The  principle  on  which  it  rests  is  in- 
corporated in  all  law,  and  exemplified  in  all  govern- 
ment. It  is  worse  than  folly  to  attempt  to  expel  it 
from  the  word  and  government  of  God.  Despite  all 
human  opinions  and  reasonings  it  will  remain  eter- 
nally true,  that  "  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many 
were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  many 


56  THE   FAITHFUL    SATING. 

shall  be  made  righteous ;"  that  God  "  hath  made  Him 
who  knew  no  sin,  to  be  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be 
made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him  !" 

The  result  now  of  these  truths  is  indeed  glorious. 
In  his  incarnation,  in  his  obedience,  in  his  unexam- 
pled sufferings  and  death,  Jesus  Christ  was  the  substi- 
tute for  sinners.  Who  can  express  then  the  hope  that 
thus  comes  to  the  lost  ?  For  though  he  became  man, 
that  he  might  obey  and  might  die,  Jesus  Christ  was 
yet  God.  The  worth,  therefore,  and  the  sufficiency 
of  his  atonement  are  immeasurable ;  as  much  so  as 
is  his  divinity.  Contemplated  in  its  essential  nature 
and  intrinsic  efficacy,  it  is  absolutely  without  limit. 
You  may  compare  it  to  the  horizon,  which,  as  you 
approach  it,  ever  recedes  and  widens.  Or  you  may 
compare  it  to  an  ocean,  whose  depths  reach  no  bot- 
tom, and  whose  waves  break  on  no  shore.  But  all 
comparisons  fail,  all  language,  and  all  thought,  are 
beggared  in  the  attempt  to  express  or  conceive  the 
illimitable  fulness  and  sufficiency  of  the  atonement. 

But  there  arises  a  difficulty  here — a  difficulty  which 
at  times  presses  on  serious  and  thoughtful  minds. 
The  penalty  of  the  law  is  death.  To  meet  and  en- 
dure that  was  requisite  in  order  to  atonement.  How 
could  Christ  Jesus  endure  this  penalty? 

It  is  a  difficulty,  and  perhaps  it  were  both  more 
wise  and  reverent  to  recognise  the  impracticableness 
of  its  full  solution  now,  and  silently  wait  for  the 
light  of  eternity.  Thus  much,  however,  is  obvious, 
that  a  penalty  must  adapt  itself  in  its  actual  inflic- 
tion to  the  nature,  and  be  affected  by  the  dignity,  of 
the  being  on  whom  it  may  fall.  So  the  penalty  of 
the  divine  law,  while  remaining  the  same  in  its  own 
nature,  must  manifestly  become  different  in  some  re- 


WILLIS    LORD,    D.    D. 


57 


spects  when  inflicted  on  different  orders  of  creatures, 
as  on  angels,  and  on  men.     Hence  this  point  has 
sometimes  been  represented  thus :    "  All   creatures 
must  endure  the  penalty  of  the  law,  if  it  fall  on 
them,  for  ever,  because  they  are  finite.     The  eter- 
nity of  their  woe  is  thus  incidental;  i.  e.,  it  results, 
not  of  necessity  from  the  law,  but  from  their  nature. 
The  duration  of  suffering,  therefore,  is  not  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  proper  infliction  of  the  penalty  by 
ivhomsoever  endured,  but  it  is  thus  necessary  when 
endured  by  those  who  are  finite ;  i.  e.,  by  creatures. 
The  Son  of  God,  however,  was  not  a  creature.     By 
virtue  of  his  divine,  and,  therefore,  infinite  nature,  or 
being,  he  could  exhaust  in  a  limited   period   that 
penalty  which  a  creature  could  never  exhaust.     It 
indeed  assailed  him.     It  beat  upon  his  humanity. 
It  bore  him  to  the  very  gates  of  hell,  but  his  divinity 
broke  the  fierceness  of  its  power.     It  cried  out  for 
blood.     Its  cry  was  inexorable — unceasing.     Along 
the  flight  of  weary  centuries,  it  had  made  even  the 
altar  and  the  temple  of  Jehovah's  worship  the  place 
of  slaughter.     Nor  could  it  be  satisfied  with  the  life 
of  beasts.    It  kindled  on  the  souls  of  men.    It  drank 
up  their  spirits.     It  burned  on  from  generation  to 
generation.     But  when  it  reached  the  sacrifice  on 
Calvary,  the  son  of  man,  yet  also  the  Son  of  God, 
its  rage  was  spent,  its  power  destroyed.     It  could 
not  long  grapple  for  the  mastery  with  an  uncreated 
arm.    It  kindled  fiercely  on  his  humanity,  and  wasted 
it.     It  burned  towards  his  divinity,  and  expired !" 
"  He  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law, 
being  made  a  curse  for  us!" 

It  is  thus,  brethren,  that  Christ  Jesus  saved  sin- 
ners from  the  condemnation  of  the  law.     The  re- 


58  THE   FAITHFUL    SAYING. 

maining  exigency  of  their  condition  be  meets  by 
sending  into  their  souls  the  Holy  Spirit,  By  his 
presence  and  power  they  are  made  alive  from  the 
dead ;  they  exercise  new  and  sacred  affections ;  they 
become  partakers  of  vast  and  immortal  hopes ;  in 
every  taste  and  susceptibility  of  their  moral  being ; 
they  are  formed  and  fitted  for  the  glorious  and  eter- 
nal kingdom  of  God.  So  great,  so  entire,  so  endur- 
ing is  the  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ. 

IV.  In  reference  to  all  this  we  now  add,  "it  is  a 
faithful  saying."  It  is  no  more  immense  and  won- 
derful than  it  is  true.  It  is  to  be  believed,  there- 
fore, without  fear  and  without  hesitation.  Every  sin- 
ner this  side  of  death  may  rest  his  soul  on  it  securely. 

The  testimony  of  God  demonstrates  its  truth.  Over 
and  over  again  the  Scriptures  present  us  with  the 
doctrine  of  atonement  by  Jesus  Christ.  Every  where 
they  reveal  him  as  a  divine  person ;  though  now,  for 
the  purposes  of  redemption,  in  mysterious  but  real 
association  with  humanity.  Every  where  they  re- 
present his  obedience  even  unto  death,  and  in  death 
as  vicarious,  as  in  the  place  and  for  the  benefit  of 
sinners.  With  the  clearness  and  vividness  of  a  sun- 
beam they  trace  these  words,  and  such  as  these — 
"He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was 
bruised  for  our  iniquities ;  on  him  was  laid  the  ini- 
quity of  us  all."  In  the  view  of  his  cross,  and  as 
the  divine  solution  of  the  appalling  sacrifice  there, 
they  exclaim,  u  Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved 
God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be 
the  propitiation  for  our  sins  !"  Yea,  that  u  God  so 
loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life  !" 


WILLIS   LORD,    D.    D.  59 

The  influence,  moreover,  of  this  blessed  doctrine, 
when  it  is  really  received,  demonstrates  its  truth. 
All  those  effects  which  it  is  designed  to  produce  are 
realized.  The  sinner  is  forgiven.  He  has  peace  with 
God.  He  has  the  witness  of  the  Spirit.  His  affec- 
tions are  changed.  The  objects  of  his  supreme  de- 
sire and  pursuit  are  new  and  sacred.  He  takes  plea- 
sure in  spiritual  things.  He  becomes  increasingly 
like  Christ.  His  life  is  a  service  to  God.  His  death 
even  is  a  victory  over  death,  and  his  eternity  is  hea- 
ven. 

Yes,  beloved  brethren,  it  is  a  faithful  saying.  Pa- 
triarchs believed  it,  though  to  them  the  great  sacri- 
fice was  still  in  the  distant  future.  Prophets  fore- 
told it  in  their  most  glowing  and  majestic  strains, 
and  they  trusted  in  what  they  thus  foretold.  Apos- 
tles proclaimed  it,  and  rejoiced  that  they  might  seal 
their  testimony  with  their  blood.  Martyrs  confessed 
it,  and  its  celestial  power  was  that  which  took  their 
terror  from  the  fiercest  flames.  Multitudes  in  every 
age  have  borne  witness  by  lives  of  holiness  and  deaths 
of  triumph,  that  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners  !"  Oh  !  men  and  brethren,  must  the 
sacred  succession  stop?  Shall  this  faithful  saying 
have  no  more  witnesses  here  ?  Is  it  possible  that  you 
should  feel  you  do  not  need  the  blood  of  atonement  ? 
Or  can  you  suppose  for  a  moment,  that  in  the  flow 
of  ages  its  fulness  is  exhausted  ?  You  do  not  need 
it  if  you  have  never  sinned.  It  is  exhausted,  if  that, 
which  is  infinite  can  fail.  But  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other  of  these  things  is  true.  You  have  sinned — 
often,  long,  fearfully.  The  atonement  of  Christ  re- 
mains, and  will  remain,  in  its  undiminished  fulness 
and  glory ;  and,  therefore,  worthy, 


60  THE   FAITHFUL   SAYING. 

V.  As  the  apostle  finally  adds,  "  worthy  of  all  ac- 
ceptation. "  The  meaning  is,  it  is  worthy  of  a  prompt, 
cordial,  grateful,  whole-souled  reception  by  sinners, 
and  by  all  sinners. 

Shall  we  stop  to  say,  that  all  sinners  need  this  sal- 
vation ?  They  do  need  it.  No  necessity  can  be 
more  obvious  or  more  imperative.  Under  the  divine 
government,  where  there  is  sin,  there  must  be  atone- 
ment, or  there  must  be  death.  This  necessity 
grounds  itself  in  the  divine  nature.  Justice  is  an 
essential,  and  therefore  immutable  attribute  of  God. 
It  is  inseparable  from  his  being,  as  much  so  as  his 
spirituality  —  his  infinity  —  his  almighty  power. 
Should  he  therefore  cease  to  be  just,  he  would  cease 
to  be  God.  For  him,  therefore,  to  pass  by  or  forgive 
sin,  on  the  ground  of  mere  sovereignty,  or  exj3edi- 
ency,  or  general  benevolence,  irrespective  of  the 
great  principles  and  claims  of  justice,  we  hold  to  be 
impossible ;  as  clearly  and  inexorably  so,  as  it  would 
be  for  him  to  be  unjust.  The  necessity  of  atone- 
ment, therefore,  in  the  case  of  sin,  and  if  it  be  par- 
doned, is  absolute.  Where  it  is  not  found,  the  sin- 
ner must  die.  Are  you  sinners  ?  You  need  then 
an  atonement.  You  all  need  it.  There  are  no 
creatures  in  the  wide  universe  who  have  a  more  per- 
sonal or  a  deeper  interest  in  the  saying  —  that 
"  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners." 
In  the  truth  of  his  atoning  sacrifice  is  your  only 
hope  for  eternity.  In  your  acceptance  of  and  reli- 
ance on  that  sacrifice,  by  faith,  is  all  your  salva« 
tion! 

Or  shall  we  detain  you  to  repeat  that  this  salva- 
tion is  sufficient  for  all  sinners  ?     It  certainly  is  thus 


WILXIS   LORD,    D.   D.  61 

sufficient.  We  speak,  of  course,  of  its  essential  na- 
ture and  fulness.  Viewed  in  itself,  the  sacrifice  on 
the  cross  has  a  worth  and  adequacy  absolutely  un- 
limited. They  are  restricted  only  by  the  revealed 
purpose  of  God  to  apply  the  atonement  to  those 
alone  who  believe.  This  purpose  does  indeed  exist; 
and,  like  God  himself,  it  is  immutable.  How 
could  it  be  otherwise  ?  No  remedy  can  be  effective, 
unless  it  be  applied.  It  may  possess  the  most  un- 
questionable and  powerful  healing  properties — but 
what  will  these  avail,  if  the  diseased  and  the  sick 
will  not  use  it  ?  God  gave  his  Son,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  him  may  have  everlasting  life.  But, 
wonderful  as  was  this  gift,  illimitable  as  were  the 
virtue  and  merit  of  the  sacrifice  so  made,  he  that 
believeth  not  must  perish.  It  is  God's  own  aver- 
ment. The  atonement  itself,  with  all  its  fulness  of 
grace,  power  and  glory,  cannot  save  those,  who  by 
unbelief  persist  in  rejecting  it  as  the  ground  and 
means  of  salvation.  That  there  are  such  persons 
and  will  continue  to  be,  the  history  of  men  and  £he 
word  of  God  render  certain.  But  the  limitation  of 
the  atonement  so  resulting,  is  from  causes  external 
to  itself.  It  remains  still  in  its  own  glorious  all- 
sufficiency.  If  sinful  men  will  receive  it  and  rely 
on  it,  no  matter  who  they  are,  nor  how  many,  nor 
how  multiplied  or  grievous  their  sins,  it  will  be 
effectual ;  it  will  save  them.  If  they  will  not  receive 
it,  the  die  is  cast ;  there  is  no  atonement  for  them ; 
they  must  perish  in  their  iniquities.  It  is  a  result 
certain  as  the  being  of  God.  It  is  a  result  demanded 
and  secured  by  every  principle  of  fitness  and  right, 
by  the  perfection  of  the  divine  character,  and  the 
inviolability  of  the  divine  government. 


62  THE    FAITHFUL    SATING. 

Do  you,  then,  believe  in  Christ  ?  Will  you  believe 
in  Christ  ?  In  this  case  the  atonement  is  divinely 
sufficient.  There  is  not  a  sin  against  you,  in  the 
book  of  God,  which,  in  view  of  it,  will  not  be  for- 
given. There  is  not  a  stain  of  guilt  upon  your  soul, 
which,  through  its  efficacy,  will  not  be  washed  out. 
There  is  not  a  want  of  your  immortal  being,  which, 
for  the  Redeemer's  sake,  will  not  be  freely  and  for 
ever  supplied.  Oh,  it  is  indeed  "  a  faithful  saying, 
and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners !" 

My  brethren,  worldly  themes  occupy  you.  Truths 
like  these  seem  to  you  perhaps  foreign,  unattrac- 
tive, spiritless.  The  scenes  of  time,  which  ever  flit 
by  you,  like  shadows,  are  in  your  view  real  and  im- 
portant. Well,  they  are  so.  They  have  a  signifi- 
cance deeper  than  you  are  aware.  They  have  a  rela- 
tion to  eternity,  solemn  and  fearful.  They  have  an  im- 
perishable record  before  God ;  a  record  to  be  read  in 
the  judgment.  But  forgetful  of  this  significance  and 
this  relation,  you  contemplate  these  scenes  in  only 
their  present  aspect.  Such  is  their  power  over  you, 
that  we  fear  you  will  still  turn  away  from  the  cross, 
but  if  you  do,  remember,  "  Christ  dieth  no  more !" 
We  fear  you  will  still  close  your  hearts  to  the  glori- 
ous truth,  that  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners ;"  but  if  you  do,  remember  "  there 
remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sins !"  The  great 
work  of  expiation  is  finished.  It  stands  before  you 
God's  amazing  provision  for  the  wants  of  men  ; 
unexampled — sufficient — alone.  In  view  of  it,  he 
demands  now  your  decision.  It  is  for  you  to  receive 
Jesus  Christ  and  live — or  to  reject  Jesus  Christ  and 
die. 


THE  RULING  PASSION. 

A   SERMON    TO     YOUNG    MEN. 

BY 

W.    B.    SPRAGUE,  D.D. 

PASTOR  OF  THE    SECOND  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,  ALBANY,  If.  T. 


The  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil. — Eccl. 

viii.  11. 

In  connection  with 
Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 

soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind. — Matt.  xxii.  37. 

There  is  scarcely  any  thing  in  relation  to  which 
men  are  so  jealous  as  their  own  rights ;  and  scarcely 
any  question,  which  they  scan  with  such  severe 
scrutiny,  as  who  shall  be  their  rulers.  Let  some 
important  post  of  civil  authority  be  about  to  be 
filled,  and  you  will  hardly  find  a  man  in  the  com- 
munity who  is  indifferent  to  the  pending  question ; 
and  not  improbably  there  may  be  a  tempest  raised, 
that  will  make  the  very  foundations  of  society  rock. 
And  so,  too,  men  are  eagle-eyed  to  discern  the  first 
symptoms  of  oppression.  If  rulers  are  disposed  to  be 
tyrants,  their  subjects  quickly  find  it  out ;  and  even 
if  they  have  not  the  courage  to  resist,  or  complain, 
they  are  still  galled  by  the  yoke,  and  would  make 
an  effort  to  throw  it  off,  if  they  could.  Liberty 
every  man  regards  as  his  dearest  possession;  and 

(63) 


64  THE   RULING    PASSION. 

whoever  discovers  a  disposition  to  trifle  with  it,  need 
not  marvel,  if  he  is  met  with  the  spirit  of  resist- 
ance. 

But  it  happens,  a  little  strangely,  that  those  who 
are  so  jealous  of  any  external  encroachment  upon 
their  rights,  too  often  manifest  little  or  no  concern 
in  respect  to  the  more  important  dominion  in  their 
own  bosoms.  They  will  spare  no  pains  to  investi- 
gate the  character  of  the  candidate  for  some  paltry 
office,  the  influence  of  which  may  only  slightly 
affect  them,  while  yet  the  world  within  may  be  com- 
pletely subject  to  one  tyrant  or  another,  without 
their  ever  taking  note  of  the  fact  that  they  are  op- 
pressed. In  the  hope  of  disturbing  carelessness,  and 
enlightening  ignorance,  on  this  subject,  I  design  to 
address  you  on  the  ruling  passion — its  nature — its 
origin  and  growth — its  influence. 

The  general  topic  upon  which  I  am  to  dwell  ob- 
viously connects  itself  with  each  of  the  passages 
which  I  have  cited.  The  first — "  the  heart  of  the 
sons  of  men  is  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil" — is  a 
declaration  that  mankind  not  only,  on  the  whole, 
prefer  the  wrong,  but  that  they  choose  it,  and  pursue 
it,  with  the  utmost  intensity  of  purpose.  The  latter 
— "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind'* 
— is  God's  requisition  upon  the  children  of  men,  to 
give  Him  their  supreme  and  perpetual  homage.  I 
have  brought  together  the  two  passages,  because  one 
exhibits  the  ruling  passion  for  evil — the  other,  the 
ruling  passion  for  good ;  and  both  will  necessarily  be 
brought  into  view,  in  the  contemplation  of  the  gen- 
eral subject. 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,    D.  D. 


65 


I.  Our  first  inquiry  respects  the  nature  of  the 
ruling  passion.  What  is  it  that  we  designate  by 
this  appellation? 

The  ruling  passion,  in  the  most  general  sense,  may 
be  defined — the  concentrated  energy  of  the  soul.  I  am 
aware  that  this  is  a  legitimate  subject  for  philosophi- 
cal disquisition ;  and  that,  viewed  in  this  light, 
much  might  be  said  upon  it,  that  would  be  both 
true  and  useful ;  while  yet  the  well-defined  boun- 
daries of  human  knowledge  should  not  be  passed. 
But  the- time,  the  place,  every  thing  connected  with 
the  occasion,  limits  me  to  the  more  practical  view. 
The  definition  that  I  have  given,  is  perhaps  as  plain 
as  the  nature  of  the  subject  will  admit ;  but  be  that 
as  it  may,  every  individual  may  know  infallibly 
what  it  is,  if  he  will  make  suitable  observation  upon 
his  own  experience. 

The  ruling  passion  may  be  considered  in  a  more 
general,  or  a  more  restricted  sense. 

In  the  more  general  sense,  it  consists  in  the  preva- 
lence of  a  sinful  or  a  holy  temper ;  in  other  words, 
in  that  state  of  the  soul  which  constitutes  man  either 
the  enemy  or  the  friend  of  God. 

It  is  obvious,  alike  from  Scripture  and  from  experi- 
ence, that  man,  in  an  unrenewed  state,  lives  chiefly 
for  his  own  gratification ;  that  his  chosen  element  is 
amidst  the  things  that  are  seen  and  are  temporal. 
This  the  Saviour  expresses,  by  "loving  darkness 
rather  than  light ;"  and  the  Apostle,  by  "  minding 
earthly  things ;"  and  the  wise  man  in  our  text,  by 
"  the  hearts  of  the  sons  of  men  being  fully  set  in 
them  to  do  evil."  And  who  need  be  told  that  all 
experience  coincides  with  this  record  ?  While  there 
6 


66  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

are  many  professing  to  be  Christians,  who  belie  their 
profession  by  an  apparently  supreme  devotednesS  to 
the  world,  how  manifest  is  it  that  the  multitude  who 
make  no  profession,  are  actual  idolaters  of  the  world 
in  some  form  or  other !  Their  thoughts,  their  affec- 
tions, the  combined  energies  of  their  souls,  are  em- 
ployed upon,  actually  fastened  to,  the  things  that 
must  perish  with  the  using.  It  is  by  no  means  ne- 
cessarily implied  that  they  are  profane,  or  dishonest, 
or  immoral  in  any  sense ;  or  that  they  are  destitute 
of  naturally  amiable  and  benevolent  dispositions ; 
or  that  they  may  not  perform  many  acts  that  shall 
have  an  auspicious  bearing  upon  the  welfare  of  soci- 
ety, and  even  upon  the  interests  of  the  church ;  but 
after  all,  they  are  lovers  of  the  world  more  than  lov- 
ers of  God.  Their  ruling  passion  is  towards  the 
earth.  They  have  no  heart  to  relish,  nor  even  an 
eye  to  discern,  the  things  that  are  spiritual.  Such  is 
the  condition  of  man — of  every  man  in  his  unre- 
newed state. 

But  when  the  renovating  act  has  once  passed  upon 
him,  new  objects  of  affection  and  pursuit  rise  before 
his  mind,  and  its  energies  receive  a  new  and  corres- 
pondingly noble  direction.  From  having  had  a  heart 
fully  set  in  him  to  do  evil,  his  ruling  desire  now  is 
to  love  the  Lord  his  God  with  all  his  heart,  and  all 
his  soul,  and  all  his  mind.  True,  he  is  yet  a  miser- 
ably imperfect  being,  and  he  often  has  occasion  to 
lament  that  when  he  would  do  good  evil  is  present 
with  him ;  and  sometimes,  perhaps,  he  is  in  doubt 
whether  he  is  not  still  in  unbroken  bondage  to  his 
lusts.  But  whatever  may  be  his  imperfections,  or  his 
apprehensions,  or  his  conflicts,  the  current  of  his  soul 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,    D.  D.  67 

is  really  moving  towards  God ;  his  strongest  desire 
is,  that  God  may  be  glorified  in  him  and  by  him. 
And  this  desire  discovers  itself  in  a  new  course  of 
action.  It  may  not,  indeed,  be  new  in  every  sense ; 
it  may  not  be  new  to  the  undiscerning  eye  of 
man ;  for  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  external  de- 
portment of  an  unrenewed  person,  under  the  more 
general  influences  of  Christianity,  may  be  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  that  of  the  true  Christian ;  but 
it  is  new  to  the  heart-searching  eye  of  God,  because  it 
is  prompted  by  a  new  principle,  and  directed  to  a 
new  end. 

I  have  said  that  the  ruling  passion,  considered  in 
a  more  general  sense,  is  that  sinful  or  holy  temper 
which  constitutes  the  moral  state  of  man  as  the 
friend  or  enemy  of  God — in  a  more  restricted  sense, 
it  is  the  particular  form  which  that  temper  assumes — 
the  channel  through  which  the  energies  of  the  mind, 
whether  working  for  good  or  evil,  chiefly  operate. 

On  this  point  I  may  be  contented  to  refer  you  to 
the  results  of  your  own  observation.  Whether  you 
look  into  the  world,  or  into  the  church,  or,  I  may  add, 
into  your  own  hearts,  provided  you  will  compare 
your  experience  with  that  of  others,  you  will  find  a 
diversity  in  the  ruling  passion  corresponding  to  the 
variety  of  human  pursuits.  All  bad  men  are  alike 
in  general — that  is,  in  being  supremely  devoted  to 
their  own  selfish  gratification ;  but  they  differ  end- 
lessly in  respect  to  the  form  in  which  the  evil  ten- 
dency develops  itself.  In  one,  the  ruling  passion  is 
the  love  of  wealth — in  another,  the  love  of  praise — 
in  another,  the  love  of  pleasure — in  all,  the  love  of 
the  world.     And  the  same  remark  applies  to  good 


68  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

men — while  love  to  God  and  man  is  the  great  princi  • 
pie  that  presides  over  all  their  actions,  and  gives  the 
general  complexion  to  their  character,  even  this 
principle  discovers  itself  in  a  variety  of  forms — one 
may  be  more  serious  and  devout,  another  more  ac- 
tive and  philanthropic ;  one  may  become  absorbed 
in  one  field  of  benevolent  operation,  another  in  an- 
other ;  and  the  energies  of  each  may  be  directed, 
possibly  too  exclusively,  in  his  own  particular  chan- 
nel ;  while  yet  the  actions  of  all,  when  they  come 
to  be  referred  to  the  remoter  cause,  are  found  to  be 
dictated  by  the  same  spirit.  So  much  for  the  nature 
of  the  ruling  passion. 

II.  Our  second  inquiry  relates  to  its  origin  and 
growth.  We  shall  still  keep  in  view  the  distinction 
already  recognised,  considering  it  in  a  more  general 
and  a  more  restricted  sense. 

If  we  consider  the  ruling  passion  as  consisting  in 
the  general  temper  of  the  soul,  constituting  the  in- 
dividual a  sinner  or  a  saint,  we  shall  find,  of  course, 
that  it  has  a  different  origin,  as  it  partakes  of  a  sin- 
ful or  a  holy  character. 

In  the  former  case,  it  is  evidently  to  be  referred 
to  man's  original  apostacy.  That  mankind  are  born 
with  a  propensity  to  evil,  is  proved  by  the  same  kind 
of  evidence  that  proves  their  original  propensity  to 
eat  and  drink ;  for  if  the  latter  is  developed  a  little 
earlier,  the  former  discovers  itself  as  soon  as  the  na- 
ture of  the  case  will  admit — namely,  with  the  first 
indications  of  moral  agency.  If  there  are  any  who 
choose  to  deny  this  fact,  our  appeal  is  to  universal 
experience — even  to  those  very  cases  which  are 
brought  to  prove  the  opposite  doctrine ;  for  amidst 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,    D.  D.  69 

the  utmost  sweetness  and  loveliness  that  early  child- 
hood ever  exhibits,  if  you  watch  narrowly,  you  will 
find  the  workings  of  an  evil  propensity — evidence 
that  the  spoiler  has  been  there,  sowing  the  seeds  of 
moral  death.  For  the  reason  of  this  state  of  things, 
we  can  go  no  farther  back  than  Paul  carries  us,  when 
he  says,  "As  by>one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world, 
and  death  by  sin,  so  death  hath  passed  upon  all  men, 
for  that  all  have  sinned."  Any  other  theory  of  the 
origin  and  transmission  of  human  depravity  than 
this  declaration  clearly  implies,  is  unphilosophical, 
and  inconsistent  with  palpable  facts.  I  say  then, 
man  derives  his  sinful  nature,  his  ruling  passion  for 
evil,  directly  from  the  great  ancestor  of  the  race. 
In  the  shock  of  the  apostacy  the  gold  became  dim, 
and  the  fine  gold  was  changed. 

And  whence  does  the  Christian  derive  his  ruling 
passion  for  good  ?  I  have,  in  a  measure,  anticipated 
the  answer  under  the  preceding  head — from  the  re- 
novating, life-giving  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
Bible  every  where  attributes  this  work  to  the  Spirit, 
without,  however,  explaining  minutely  the  manner 
in  which  it  is  performed.  It  is  this  to  which  the 
Prophet  refers,  when  he  says,  "  Not  by  might,  nor 
by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  And 
again,  "  A  new  heart  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new 
spirit  will  I  put  within  you ;  and  I  will  take  away  the 
stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  an 
heart  of  flesh."  To  this  also  the  Saviour  refers,  when 
he  says,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of  the  Spirit,  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God ;"  and  the  Apostle 
also,  when  he  speaks  of  being  saved,  "  by  the  wash- 
ing of  regeneration,  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy 


70  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

Ghost."  The  amount  of  all  that  we  know  on  this 
subject  is,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  operates  in  some 
mysterious  way,  by  means  of  the  truth,  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws  of  our  moral  nature,  to  the 
production  of  a  new  moral  state  of  the  soul,  a  new 
ruling  passion,  a  strong  relish  for  those  spiritual  ob- 
jects which  the  individual  once  regarded  with  indif- 
ference or  disgust.  He  is  himself  conscious  of  the 
change,  from  an  inspection  of  his  own  inward  exer- 
cises; and  others  take  knowledge  of  him  that  he 
has  been  the  subject  of  the  change,  as  both  his  words 
and  actions  breathe  a  new  and  heavenly  spirit.  You 
may  impute  the  change  to  something  else  than  a  di- 
vine agency ;  you  may  say  that  there  is  some  mys- 
terious power  that  resides  in  man's  own  will,by  which 
spiritual  life  rises  out  of  spiritual  death;  but  the 
subject  of  the  change  repudiates  such  an  intimation. 
He  will  tell  you  that  he  is  a  monument  of  divine 
grace,  a  living  witness  to  God's  mercy  and  power 
in  the  transforming  work ;  and  that  but  for  this  gra- 
cious interposition,  his  heart  would  still  have  been 
fully  set  in  him  to  do  evil. 

But  if  such  be  the  origin  of  the  prevailing  temper 
or  habit  of  the  soul,  both  for  good  and  evil,  whence 
originates  the  particular  form  which  the  good  or  evil 
temper  assumes?  In  other  words,  whence  origi- 
nates the  ruling  passion,  considered  in  a  restricted 
sense  ? 

Doubtless  it  is  to  be  traced  in  most  instances,  pri- 
marily, to  the  original  constitution  of  the  mind — 
to  the  elements  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  nature, 
as  they  are  supplied  by  the  Creator  Himself.  No 
doubt  there  is  a  diversity  in  the  original  character 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,   D.  D.  71 

of  men's  minds,  corresponding  to  the  variety  which 
we  see  in  their  external  appearance ;  and  hence  we 
find  that  children  of  the  same  parents,  educated  by 
the  same  teachers,  and  subjected,  so  far  as  possible, 
to  precisely  the  same  training,  not  unfrequently  be- 
come widely  different  in  their  characters ;  and  that, 
irrespective  of  that  radical  change  which  may,  or 
may  not,  have  been  wrought  in  them  by  the  Spirit 
of  God.  Here,  no  doubt,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  is 
the  seed  of  the  ruling  passion ;  and  the  mother,  if 
she  is  watchful,  may  not  unfrequently  detect  its  in- 
cipient growth,  while  the  child  is  yet  in  the  nursery. 
If  you  will  write  the  history  of  the  man,  who,  in  a 
fit  of  revengeful  passion,  shed  his  brother's  blood, 
and  has  had  his  own  blood  poured  out  as  an  offering 
to  public  justice — his  mother,  if  she  still  survives 
to  tell  the  story  of  his  childhood,  and  if  she  could 
bring  herself  to  speak  out  all  that  is  lodged  in  her 
memory,  would  not  improbably  tell  you  that  she  saw 
that  terrible  passion  in  her  son,  while  it  was  yet  in 
embryo ;  and  that  nothing  has  happened  to  him  that 
was  not  shadowed  forth  to  her  anxious  spirit  almost 
before  he  left  the  cradle.  And  so,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  you  will  trace  the  history  of  some  individual 
whose  life  has  been  but  an  unbroken  succession  of 
deeds  of  mercy,  and  whose  name  quickens  the  pul- 
sations, and  draws  forth  the  tears,  of  the  inmate  of 
many  a  hovel,  you  will  not  improbably  learn,  that 
those  who  watched  over  his  earliest  years  had  often 
admired  the  beamings  of  a  kindly  and  generous 
spirit  in  his  infantile  smiles.  Not  that  there  is  any 
thing  here  to  excuse  vice ;  for  these  evil  propensi- 
ties belong  to  a  moral  agent,  and  he  is  bound  to  see 


72  THE   RULING  PASSION. 

that  they  are  eradicated,  instead  of  being  indulged. 
Nor  is  there  any  thing,  on  the  other  hand,  of  which 
the  good  man  has  occasion  to  glory ;  for  the  graces 
of  nature,  not  less  than  the  Christian  virtues,  are 
from  above — the  former  are  the  production  of  a 
creating,  the  latter,  of  a  new  creating  agency. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  origin  of  the  ruling  passion 
— let  us  now,  for  a  moment,  contemplate  its  growth. 
This  is  to  be  referred  to  the  influence  of  habit  and 
to  the  power  of  circumstances. 

It  is  a  law  of  our  nature  that  the  repetition  of  any 
act  increases  the  facility  with  which  it  is  performed; 
and  hence,  we  find  that  that  which  is  originally  diffi- 
cult soon  becomes  easy,  and  that  which  is,  at  first, 
indifferent,  becomes,  at  no  distant  period,  like  a  second 
nature.  Notice  the  operations  of  this  principle 
wherever  you  will,  and  you  will  always  arrive  at  the 
same  conclusion.  I  point  you  to  the  poor  drunkard, 
who  stands  before  you  completely  brutalized,  though 
immortal ;  whose  nearest  friends  cannot  bear  to  look 
upon  him,  because  he  is  the  very  personification  of 
idiocy  or  loathsomeness.  There  was  a  time  when  he 
was  first  conscious  of  the  existence  of  that  deadly 
appetite,  and  when  he  began  to  indulge  it,  he 
dreamed  not  how  fearfully  strong  it  was  destined  to 
become ;  but  each  successive  act  of  indulgence 
strengthened  the  propensity,  till  now,  as  you  see,  it 
holds  him  with  a  giant's  grasp.  Look,  too,  at  the 
miser !  The  passion  for  accumulating  and  hoarding 
up  may  have  originally  had  a  prominence  in  his 
moral  constitution  ;  but  it  was  not  so  prominent,  but 
that,  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  career,  he  could  some- 
times show  himself  public-spirited,  and  perhaps  even 


W.    B.    SPKAGUE,    D.  D.  73 

devise  liberal  tilings.  By  long  continued  indulgence, 
however,  this  sordid  passion  has  gained  the  com- 
plete mastery  over  him,  so  that  he  is  as  deaf  as  an 
adder  to  the  claims  of  charity,  and  even  to  the  cries 
of  absolute  distress.  And  the  same  principle  is 
illustrated  in  the  growth  of  a  habit  of  philanthropy. 
Wilberforce  was  originally'  possessed  of  warm  and 
generous  sensibilities ;  but  it  was  the  fact  of  those 
sensibilities  being  always  kept  awake — the  fact  of 
his  devoting  his  life  to  the  cause  of  the  negro's  free- 
dom— that  made  him  tower  into  such  a  glorious  ex- 
ample of  benevolence  as  the  world  has  rarely  seen. 
And  if  we  consider  the  ruling  passion  in  the  more 
general  sense,  as  denoting  the  sinful  or  holy  nature, 
it  is  by  this  same  influence — the  influence  of  repeti- 
tion, that  the  sinner  becomes  more  and  more  a  sin- 
ner, the  saint  more  and  more  a  saint.  Possibly,  to 
the  eye  of  man,  there  may  be  no  very  perceptible 
change,  either  in  the  one  case  or  the  other ;  but  to 
the  Omniscient  eye  the  moral  state  of  the  soul  is 
changing  continually;  not  an  action  is  performed, 
not  a  volition  exerted,  not  a  thought  cherished,  for 
good  or  evil,  but  it  has  some  bearing  upon  the  per- 
manent state  of  the  soul — that  which  emphatically 
constitutes  its  character. 

The  other  influence,  to  which  is  to  be  referred  the 
growth  of  the  ruling  passion,  is  that  of  circumstances. 
It  is  a  familiar  but  true  remark,  that  men's  charac- 
ters are  formed,  in  a  great  degree,  by  circumstances ; 
and  this  effect  is  produced  chiefly  through  the  devel- 
opment of  the  ruling  passion.  True,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  this  passion  grows  immediately  by  suc- 
cessive acts  of  indulgence,  but  then   there  is  the 


74  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

remoter  influence  of  circumstances,  in  which  these 
acts  of  indulgence  usually  have  their  origin  ;  and 
where  the  favourable  circumstances  do  not  exist  of 
themselves,  the  ruling  passion  not  unfrequently 
creates  them,  and  then  acts  itself  out  by  means  of 
facilities  of  its  own  devising ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  circumstances  not  unfrequently  exert  an  influ- 
ence to  neutralize,  even  to  change,  the  ruling  pas- 
sion. Let  a  child,  in  the  first  developments  of  its 
moral  nature,  betray  a  prevailing  inclination  to  some 
particular  form  of  vice,  and  then  let  it  be  placed  in 
a  condition  which  furnishes  little  or  no  temptation 
to  that  species  of  indulgence,  and  it  is  quite  likely 
that  some  other  propensity,  originally  of  less  strength 
than  that,  may  gain  the  controlling  power  of  the 
soul,  and  may  keep  it  till  the  end  of  life.  There  is 
a  tradition  that  RobesjDierre  was  originally  of  a  gentle 
and  sympathetic  turn  ;  and  that  it  was  owing  to  his 
infidel  and  bloody  training  that  those  horrible  pas- 
sions, which  finally  made  him  the  terror  of  all  his- 
tory, gained  such  a  malignant  ascendancy  in  his 
bosom.  But  whether  this  tradition  be  correct  or 
not,  it  admits  of  no  question  that  circumstances  often 
decide  what  passion  is  to  be  in  the  ascendant;  and 
that  they  sometimes  decide  in  favour  of  one  which, 
in  its  earliest  actings,  had  betrayed  no  indications  of 
uncommon  strength. 

III.  I  pass  now  to  the  third  and  last  general 
topic,  viz  :  the  influence  of  the  ruling  passion. 

And  my  first  remark,  in  illustration  of  this,  is, 
that  this  passion  has  the  mastery  of  the  whole  in- 
tellectual, moral  and  physical  man. 

It  has  the  intellectual  faculties  completely  under 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,   D.  D.  75 

its  dominion.  It  has  its  own  ends  to  accomplish,  and 
it  employs  these  faculties  as  servants  to  aid  in  their 
accomplishment.  See  how  this  remark  is  illustra- 
ted in  particular  cases.  Mark  that  individual,  whose 
heart  is  supremely  set  upon  the  honour  that  cometh 
from  men,  and  observe  how  his  intellectual  powers 
are  all  laid  under  contribution  for  the  attainment  of 
it.  His  perception  and  judgment  are  always  in  a 
wakeful  state,  that  he  may  be  able  to  avoid  every 
thing  that  is  adverse,  to  avail  himself  of  every  thing 
that  is  favourable,  to  his  particular  object.  His 
memory  is  continually  tasked,  that  he  may  take 
advantage  of  the  lessons  that  are  furnished  by  the 
past — perhaps  by  his  own  past  experience,  whether 
for  good  or  evil.  His  reasoning  faculty,  his  power 
of  invention,  is  put  into  vigorous  exercise,  that  he 
may,  if  possible,  devise  some  new  facilities  for  secur- 
ing to  himself  the  plaudits  of  his  fellow  men.  And 
when  you  have  noticed  how  completely  the  whole 
intellectual  man  is  brought  into  subjection,  where  the 
ruling  passion  is  for  the  honour  that  cometh  from 
man,  look  at  another  individual,  and  see  how  the 
same  thing  is  accomplished,  where  the  ruling  pas- 
sion is  for  the  honour  that  cometh  from  God  only. 
What  that  devoted  Christian  is  striving  after,  is  a 
crown  of  immortal  glory ;  and  which  of  his  intellec- 
tual faculties,  think  you,  finds  a  dispensation  from 
the  glorious  work  on  which  his  heart  is  supremely 
set  ?  Is  it  the  perceptive  faculty  ?  But  the  eye  of 
his  mind  is  continually  open  to  behold  the  truth, 
not  only  in  its  reality,  but  in  its  excellence  and  glory. 
Is  it  the  judgment?  But  without  this  in  constant 
exercise,  how  is  he  to  ascertain  what  is  true  and 


7G  THE   RULING   PASSION". 

right;  in  other  words,  what  he  is  to  believe,  and 
what  he  is  to  do?  Is  it  the  memory?  But  it  is 
the  memory  that  supplies  him  with  his  materials  for 
gratitude  and  humiliation,  for  meditation  and  devo- 
tion. Is  it  the  reasoning  faculty?  But  it  is  by 
means  of  this  that  he  is  constantly  growing  in  spi- 
ritual'knowledge,  and  without  it  he  could  never  be 
more  than  a  babe  in  Christ.  Believe  me,  the  ruling- 
passion  for  the  heavenly  crown  allows  no  one  of  the 
faculties  of  the  mind  to  remain  unoccupied.  I  clc 
not  mean  that  they  are  occupied  to  the  extent  tha . 
they  might  be  or  ought  to  be,  for  that  would  be  to 
make  no  allowance  for  an  only  partially  sanctified 
state;  but  I  mean  that  they  all  act  prevailingly 
under  the  influence  of  the  controlling  desire  of  the 
renovated  heart — the  desire  to  glorify  God  in  the 
attainment  of  immortal  glory. 

But  the  ruling  passion  extends  its  dominion  to  the 
moral  man,  as  truly  as  to  the  intellectual ;  in  other 
words,  it  controls  all  the  subordinate  passions,  includ- 
ing also  the  animal  appetites,  together  with  the  higher 
principle  of  conscience. 

Observe,  first,  the  influence  which  it  exerts  in 
neutralizing,  or  keeping  in  check,  those  passions  or 
appetites  which,  if  their  operation  were  not  re- 
strained, would  be  found  to  conflict  with  it.  If  you 
were  to  judge  of  the  miser  by  the  coarse  fare  upon 
which  he  subsists,  and  the  miserable  tattered  gar- 
-  ments  in  which  he  clothes  himself,  you  would  say 
that  he  had  no  taste  to  distinguish  between  the 
coarsest  and  most  delicious  food ;  and  that,  as  for  his 
clothing,  he  would  as  soon  appear  in  rags  as  in 
robes.     But  the  truth  is,  he  has,  just  like  other  men, 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,    D.   D.  77 

his  own  natural  preference  for  at  least  decent  food 
and  clothing,  and  possibly  he  may  have  had  origi- 
nally strong  sensual  or  ostentatious  tendencies ;  but 
the  ruling  passion  for  hoarding  up  is  keeping  these 
other  tendencies  in  check,  so  that  you  would  scarcely 
know  that  they  belonged  to  his  original  constitution. 
And  you  might  arrive  at  a  similar  conclusion  in  re- 
spect to  the  devoted  Christian.  If  you  were  to  judge 
of  him  by  the  moderation  which  he  discovers  in  re- 
spect to  all  worldly  enjoyments,  you  might  conclude 
that  he  had  naturally  little  or  no  relish  for  them; 
whereas  he  may  naturally  possess  a  very  strong  rel- 
ish for  them ;  but  his  ruling  passion  for  spiritual  and 
heavenly  enjoyments  has  so  far  prevailed,  that  it  has 
brought  him  to  look  upon  them  with  comparative 
indifference.  No  matter  what  form  this  passion 
may  take,  it  will  always  show  itself  mighty  to  keep 
the  other  passions  in  subjection. 

Nay,  it  does  more  than  this;  it  exerts  an  influ- 
ence of  a  yet  more  positive  kind,  in  rendering  the 
other  passions  and  appetites  even  subservient  to  its 
own  ends.  Let  the  love  of  fame,  for  instance,  be 
supreme  in  the  bosom,  and  see  how  it  will  employ 
the  love  of  money  in  aid  of  its  own  gratification; 
for  great  wealth  confers  a  kind  of  distinction  that 
ambition  often  greatly  covets.  Or  let  the  love  of 
God  be  supreme,  and  see  how  the  naturally  benevo- 
lent dispositions  and  sympathies,  even  the  admira- 
tion of  whatever  is  graceful,  or  beautiful,  or  sublime 
in  nature,  are  all  brought  into  exercise  in  aid  of  the 
homage  that  is  due  to  the  Almighty  Parent.  In 
every  case,  indeed,  in  which  there  is  not  an  absolute 
contrariety  between  the  ruling  passion  and  the  sub- 


ib  THE    RULING    PASSIOX. 

ordinate  principles  of  our  moral  nature,  the  former 
bends  the  latter  to  its  purposes,  constituting  them, 
according  to  its  own  character,  a  good  or  evil  minis- 
tration. 

Moreover,  the  ruling  passion  acts  with  mighty 
power  upon  the  conscience — that  principle  of  man's 
nature  which  confers  upon  him  his  highest  dignity. 
And  it  does  this  in  two  ways — as  it  gives  complexion 
to  the  testimony  which  the  conscience  renders,  and 
as  it  affects  the  character  of  the  conscience  itself. 

I  may  appeal  to  the  experience  of  every  one  for 
the  fact,  that  conscience  has  a  mighty  influence  in 
rendering  man  happy  or  miserable ;  and  whether  the 
one  effect  or  the  other  is  to  be  produced,  depends 
upon  its  decisions  in  regard,  either  to  particular  ac- 
tions, or  the  general  moral  state  of  the  soul.  As  the 
ruling  passion  is,  indeed,  nothing  less  than  the  moral 
state  of  the  soul,  from  which  also  the  particular  ac- 
tions of  the  life  take  their  complexion,  it  is  obvious 
that  this  must  supply  the  materials  from  which  the 
decisions  of  conscience  are  formed ;  and  that,  as  this 
has  a  good  or  evil  direction,  supposing  conscience  to 
perform  its  legitimate  office,  the  soul  is  the  seat  of 
peace  and  joy  on  the  one  hand,  or  of  tumult  and 
terror  on  the  other.  Who  is  that  wretched  being, 
who  is  holding  a  communion  of  agony  with  himself, 
in  some  solitude  which  man's  eye  does  not  pierce  ? 
Ah !  it  is  a  man,  who,  in  obedience  to  the  strongest 
impulse  of  his  nature,  has  murdered  his  fellow,  or 
done  some  other  desperate  deed,  which  at  present  is 
known  only  to  himself;  and  there  is  not  a  single 
circumstance  that  would  seem  to  indicate  the  least 
danger  of  exposure;  and  yet  conscience  mocks  all 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,   D.    D.  79 

his  efforts  to  be  at  rest,  by  filling  his  ear  with  sounds 
concerning  the  terrible  future.  And  who  is  he  that 
feels  and  evinces  such  a  heavenly  tranquillity,  amidst 
the  vicissitudes  of  life — that  is  not  only  patient,  but 
even  joyful  in  tribulation  ?  Why,  it  is  a  man  who 
knows  no  desire  so  strong  as  that  of  glorifying  God, 
and  benefiting  his  fellow  creatures ;  and  as  he  tra- 
vels on  from  day  to  day,  in  his  beneficent  and  upward 
course,  he  is  cheered  continually  by  the  whisper  of 
an  approving  conscience,  and  tormenting  fears  find 
no  lodgment  in  his  bosom.  In  each  case,  this  mighty 
inward  agent  has  been  moved  to  diffuse  terror  or 
peace  through  the  soul,  by  the  ruling  passion. 

But  this  is  not  all;  for  the  ruling  passion  affects 
the  character  of  the  conscience  itself.  What  if  the 
heart  of  an  individual  be  fully  set  in  him  to  do  evil — 
do  you  believe  that  the  conscience  will  be  in  no 
danger  of  sustaining  an  injury  from  such  an  influ- 
ence ?  When  the  ruling  passion  first  begins  to  ope- 
rate in  a  course  of  sinful  indulgence,  conscience  of 
course  remonstrates ;  and  as  these  remonstrances  give 
pain,  the  mind  is  put  upon  devising  some  means  of 
relief,  without  yielding  up  the  favourite  indulgence. 
And,  generally,  it  does  this  by  at  first  palliating, 
and  afterwards  excusing  altogether  the  course  upon 
which  it  is  bent,  calling  evil  good  and  good  evil, 
putting  bitter  for  sweet  and  sweet  for  bitter.  And 
this  process,  especially  when  long  continued,  is  found 
to  act  upon  the  terrors  of  remorse  like  a  charm,  and 
conscience  at  length  becomes  so  torpid,  that  the  rul- 
ing passion  can  act  with  the  fury  of  a  whirlwind, 
and  not  awaken  it.  The  conscience  is  not  dead, 
after  all,  but  it  has  become  diseased,  lethargic,  insen- 


80  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

sible.  And,  then,  on  the  other  hand,  what  if  the 
individual  be  under  the  controlling  influence  of  a 
principle  of  love  to  God  and  man — do  you  imagine 
that  there  will  be  no  effect  exerted  upon  the  con- 
science by  the  operation  of  this  principle?  I  tell 
you  there  will  be  a  mighty  effect.  While  the  con- 
science will  bear  testimony  in  favour  of  the  ruling 
passion,  and  of  the  course  of  action  to  which  it 
prompts,  the  ruling  passion  will,  in  turn,  enlighten, 
and  quicken,  and  purify  the  conscience.  So  we  find 
it  in  actual  experience.  The  farther  the  Christian 
advances  in  the  spiritual  life,  the  longer  he  has 
yielded  obedience  to  the  impulses  of  his  regenerate 
nature,  the  keener  his  discernment  becomes  for  the 
nicest  shades  of  both  good  and  evil.  He  walks  in  a 
region  of  spiritual  light,  and  he  is  in  little  danger 
of  mistaking  the  character  of  the  objects  which  ap- 
pear in  it.  He  is  in  intimate  communion  with  the  • 
Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  by  such  intercourse 
surely  the  conscience  must  be  elevated  and  im- 
proved. 

I  only  add,  under  this  article,  that  the  power  of 
the  ruling  passion  extends  to  the  physical  nature.  I 
have  already  intimated  that  it  extends  to  all  the 
animal  appetites,  unless  indeed  it  may  chance  itself 
to  be  identified  with  one  of  them ;  and  then  it  will 
in  some  way  exercise  control  over  the  rest,  either 
by  keeping  them  in  check,  so  that  they  shall  not 
interfere  with  itself,  or  else  by  making  them  minis- 
ter to  its  own  gratification.  It  extends  also  to  the 
whole  body — the  hands,  the  feet,  the  li]3S,  move  in 
obedience  to  its  dictates.  It  extends  not  unfre- 
quently  even  to  the  bodily  health,  for  where  it  hap- 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,    D.    D.  81 

pens  to  be  identified  with  any  one  of  the  animal 
propensities,  it  takes  but  little  time  for  it  to  make 
perfect  shipwreck  of  the  body.  And  even  where  it 
is  seated  more  directly  in  the  mind — where,  for  in- 
stance, it  is  ambition,  or  covetousness,  or  revenge,  it 
not  unfrequently  acts  with  a  consuming  energy 
upon  the  bodily  constitution ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  where  it  takes  a  virtuous  and  benevolent 
character,  operating  in  kindly  affections  and  philan- 
thropic deeds,  it  ministers  to  the  general  health  of 
the  body,  and  even  verifies  the  declaration  of  the 
wise  man  concerning  Wisdom,  that  "  length  of  days 
is  in  her  right  hand." 

A  second  general  thought,  illustrative  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  ruling  passion,  is,  that  it  decides  both 
the  character  and  the  destiny. 

It  decides  the  character,  inasmuch  as  it  makes  the 
man  what  he  is ;  for  though  the  original  materials, 
of  which  the  character  is  formed,  are  supplied  by  the 
Creator,  yet  they  are  worked  into  one  form  or  an- 
other, according  to  the  direction  which  the  ruling 
passion  may  happen  to  take.  It  is  the  ruling  passion 
for  evil  that  constitutes  the  sinner — it  is  the  ruling 
passion  for  good  that  constitutes  the  saint ;  and  con- 
version is  nothing  else  than  a  change  of  the  ruling 
passion  from  evil  to  good.  If  we  consider  virtue  and 
vice  as  operating  through  particular  channels,  then 
we  may  say  that  it  is  the  ruling  passion  that  consti- 
tutes the  traitor  and  the  tyrant  on  the  one  hand,  the 
patriot  and  the  philanthropist  on  the  other.  That 
this  must  decide  the  character  in  view  of  God,  who 
searches  the  heart,  is  self-evident;  for  as  it  consti- 
tutes man  Avhat  he  really  is,  so  Omniscience  cannot 
7 


82  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

but  see  things  just  as  they  are.  And  it  decides  the 
character  also  in  the  view  of  men.  In  all  ordinary 
cases,  it  is  so  manifest  as  to  preclude  all  just  reason 
for  doubt ;  and  even  where  there  is  a  studied  and 
constant  effort  to  conceal  it,  it  will  be  almost  sure 
to  work  itself  out  through  innumerable  channels. 
Those  even  who  attempt  to  practise  the  greatest 
duplicity — such  are  the  arrangements  of  Providence 
— generally  pass  on  the  whole  for  nothing  more  than 
they  are  worth ;  for  though  it  may  never  have  oc- 
curred to  you  to  inquire  what  the  ruling  passion  is, 
it  is  from  your  observation  of  the  operation  of  that 
passion,  in  their  daily  conduct,  that  you  form  your 
estimate  of  their  character. 

And  if  it  decides  the  character,  it  decides  the  des- 
tiny, of  course ;  for  man's  destiny  is  nothing  more 
than  the  condition  in  which  his  character  places  him. 
In  the  present  life,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that 
a  man's  external  circumstances  are,  to  some  extent, 
independent  of  his  character ;  and  he  who  lives  only 
to  curse  society,  and  treasure  up  wrath  against  the 
day  of  wrath,  may  be  surrounded  ]by  the  splendours 
and  luxuries  of  life ;  may  have  every  thing  at  his 
command  to  minister  to  a  sensual  or  ambitious  spirit. 
But  the  truth  is,  there  is  an  illusion  about  this ;  there 
is  not  the  happiness  here  that  there  would  seem  to 
be ;  and  perhaps  there  are  as  many  in  these  circum- 
stances who  find  thorns  in  their  pillows,  as  there  are 
in  the  humbler  walks  of  life.  But  if  a  man's  earthly 
condition  is  to  be  estimated  by  the  amount  of  happi- 
ness which  he  finds  in  it,  then,  as  a  general  rule,  the 
character  decides  the  destiny  even  here;  for  there 
is  that  in  virtue  that  will  find  sources  of  enjoyment 


W.   B.    SPRAGUE,   D.   D.  83 

in  adversity ;  there  is  that  in  vice  that  will  trans- 
mute the  richest  temporal  blessings  into  a  curse. 
And  if  this  connection  between  character  and  destiny 
is  manifest  even  in  this  life,  much  more  will  it  be 
so  in  the  future.  Nothing  less  than  this,  surely,  can 
be  conveyed  by  the  language  of  the  apostle — "  They 
that  sow  to  the  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corrup- 
tion ;  and  they  that  sow  to  the  Spirit,  shall  of  the 
Spirit  reap  life  everlasting ;"  and  by  that  declaration 
of  the  Saviour,  which  He  makes  as  Judge  of  the 
world,  "  These,"  i.  e.  the  wicked,  "  shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the  righteous  into 
life  eternal."  The  ruling  passion  then  constitutes 
the  character ;  the  character  decides  the  destiny ; 
the  destiny  beyond  the  grave  never  changes.  Who 
can  estimate  the  influence  of  the  ruling  passion, 
when  it  is  to  decide  the  condition  of  both  soul  and 
body  for  ever  ? 

The  power  of  the  ruling  passion  may  further  be 
seen  in  the  influence  which  it  exerts  upon  other 
minds — upon  a  community — upon  the  world. 

There  are  various  channels  through  which  men 
exert  an  influence  upon  each  other,  and  upon  society 
at  large.  There  is  persuasion,  here  addressed  to  the 
private  ear  of  a  friend,  and  there,  moving  and  melt- 
ing an  immense  assembly.  There  is  example,  which, 
though  it  operates  silently  as  the  dew,  and  by  an 
influence  not  unfrequently  unperceived  by  the  indi- 
vidual who  is  the  subject  of  it,  yet  often  accomplishes 
its  ends,  where  all  other  influences  would  fail.  There 
is  pecuniary  contribution,  which  can  assist  largely  in 
causing  order  and  beauty  to  come  forth  where  there 
was  desolation,  or  in  causing  desolation  to  take  the 


84  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

place  of  order  and  beauty.  There  is  c^vil  polity  and 
military  prowess,  by  which  the  destinies  of  states 
and  nations  are  often  settled.  There  is  the  press, 
all  powerful  to  bless,  all  powerful  to  curse.  There 
is  prayer,  that  takes  hold  even  of  the  Almighty  arm. 
Now  all  these  are  but  the  instruments  by  which  the 
ruling  passion  operates  for  the  accomplishment  of  its 
purposes.  It  does  not,  indeed,  always  work  directly; 
and  it  may  sometimes  seem  to  be  operating  in  one 
direction,  when  it  is  really  operating  in  another; 
as,  for  instance,  the  love  of  fame  may  possibly  make 
a  man  appear  exceedingly  humble,  or  self-denied,  or 
benevolent,  when  in  his  heart  he  is  an  utter  stranger 
to  all  these  qualities.  But,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, the  ruling  passion  exerts  an  influence  upon 
the  whole  tenor  of  the  life ;  and  when  an  individual 
finishes  his  earthly  course,  if  you  could  get  at  the 
complete  history  of  his  ruling  passion,  you  would 
have  the  record  of  whatever  he  had  done  for  the 
benefit  or  the  injury  of  his  race. 

Would  you  see  what  the  ruling  passion  has  been 
able  to  accomplish  in  some  memorable  instances? 
Look,  then,  at  Napoleon.  His  ruling  passion  was 
the  lust  of  dominion.  And  it  nerved  his  arm  till  his 
arm  became  a  rod  of  iron.  It  hardened  his  heart  till 
his  heart  became  a  rock  of  adamant.  It  constructed 
yokes  for  the  nations,  as  if  they  had  been  but  cattle. 
He  moved  his  hand,  and  a  mighty  city  was  swept 
off  as  with  the  besom  of  destruction ;  he  moved  it 
again,  and  an  immense  army  was  struggling  in 
smoke  and  blood ;  and  again,  and  the  great  ones  of 
the  earth  came  bending  to  him  to  take  the  chain. 
His  career  marked  a  new  epoch  in  history.    His  influ- 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,   D.    D.  85 

ence  was  like  the  whirlwind,  except  that  the  whirl- 
wind is  the  thing  of  a  moment,  but  his  influence  will 
last  for  ever.  Look  at  Washington.  His  ruling  pas- 
sion was  that  of  a  patriot — it  was  the  desire  to  see 
his  country  free,  and  good,  and  great ;  and  under  its 
influence,  he  became  the  very  personification  of  wis- 
dom, and  valour,  and  magnanimity ;  and  while  he 
broke  the  chain  that  bound  us,  bequeathing  to  us 
our  inheritance  in  these  glorious  institutions,  he  set 
an  example  to  the  world,  which  has  done  more  than 
any  thing  else  to  render  the  throne  of  the  tyrant,  at 
this  hour,  an  insecure  and  uncertain  thing,  and 
which  is  destined  to  tell  with  mighty  power  on  the 
ultimate  civil  regeneration  of  the  world.  And, 
finally,  look  at  Paul,  whose  ruling  passion  was  pre- 
eminently a  desire  to  glorify  his  Master,  and  save  the 
souls  of  his  fellow  men.  How  intrepid  it  rendered 
him  in  danger,  how  patient  in  suffering,  how  untir- 
ing in  labour,  how  glorious  in  death !  And  who 
shall  tell  how  much  he  achieved  for  the  benefit  of 
the  church  and  the  world  ?  It  was  through  his  in- 
fluence especially  that  Christianity  darted  abroad 
among  the  nations  like  the  beams  of  the  morning ; 
that  light  came  out  of  darkness,  and  life  out  of  death, 
where  darkness  and  death  had  for  ages  held  their 
undisputed  empire.  And  wherever,  to  this  hour? 
Christianity  has  set  up  her  dominion,  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  the  hand  of  Paul  has  in  some  sense 
been  in  it ;  for  it  is  only  the  carrying  forward  of  the 
work  which  he  had  the  honour  so  gloriously  to 
begin.  Had  he  been  constituted  with  the  same 
powers  that  he  actually  possessed,  and  had  his  rul- 
ing passion  been  for  blood  and  conquest — instead  of 


86  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

being  remembered  in  the  thanksgivings  of  earth,  and 
the  yet  higher  thanksgivings  of  Heaven,  his  name 
might  have  appeared  only  on  some  dark  page  of 
history,  as  the  name  of  a  scourge  and  a  destroyer. 

I  only  add,  in  illustration  of  this  point,  that  the 
ruling  passion  is  for  ever  growing  stronger.  It  may 
indeed  be  changed  from  one  direction  to  another — 
considered  in  the  more  extended  sense,  it  always  is 
changed  in  every  case  of  genuine  conversion ;  and 
considered  in  the  more  particular  sense,  it  is  some- 
times changed,  independently  of  conversion ;  but  it 
still  remains  true  that,  so  long  as  it  holds  the  as- 
cendancy in  the  soul,  it  is,  on  the  whole,  alwa}^s 
increasing  in  strength — the  only  even  seeming  ex- 
ception to  this  remark  arising  from  the  decay  of  the 
faculties  in  which  it  may  happen  to  be  seated.  Its 
operation  in  certain  forms  may  indeed  be  temporarily 
suspended,  through  the  influence  of  circumstances ; 
but  let  the  circumstances  change,  and  if  the  ruling 
passion  be  not  changed,  it  will  be  found  to  have 
gathered  fresh  strength  from  the  check  that  has,  for 
a  time,  been  imposed  upon  it.  I  have  marvelled 
sometimes  to  see  how  strong  it  has  been  in  adversity, 
and  even  in  death.  I  have  seen  the  drunkard  turn- 
ing himself  into  a  beast,  when  his  own  wife  lay  in 
her  dying  agony.  I  have  known  the  gambler  turn 
away  from  his  mother's  new  made  grave,  to  his 
accustomed  haunts  of  delirious  revelry.  I  have 
known  the  miser's  very  death  dream  to  be  about 
gold ;  and  he  has  seemed  to  dread  death  chiefly  be- 
cause it  must  separate  him  from  his  earthly  treasures. 
And  even  where  the  terrors  of  adversity,  or  the 
glooms  of  the  last  hour,  may,  for  a  moment,  silence 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,   D.    D.  87 

the  sinner's  ruling  passion,  unless  God's  Spirit  inter- 
pose to  change  it,  it  will  certainly  re-appear,  and  act 
with  more  than  its  former  energy. 

And  this  leads  me  to  say  that  the  ruling  passion 
will  grow  stronger  in  the  next  world.  Admit,  if  you 
will,  that  it  may  be  modified  in  respect  to  its  parti- 
cular character;  modified  by  the  new  circumstances 
and  objects  by  which  it  is  surrounded.  Be  it  so, 
that  the  miser  may  no  longer  care  for  his  gold,  nor 
the  sensualist  for  his  cups,  nor  the  ambitious  man 
for  his  laurels;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  we  know 
there  will  be  no  objects  in  the  abodes  of  the  blessed 
to  awaken  or  to  demand  the  exercise  of  a  spirit  of 
compassion ;  nevertheless,  the  concentrated  energy 
of  the  soul,  for  good  or  evil,  will  remain  unchanged — 
the  sinner  will  be  reaching  a  more  dreadful  stature 
in  sin,  the  saint  a  more  glorious  stature  in  holi- 
ness, through  all  the  ages  of  an  eternal  existence. 

But  who,  after  all,  can  say  that  the  ruling  passion 
of  the  sinner  may  not  exist  in  the  next  world,  in 
precisely  the  same  form  that  it  does  in  this,  with 
this  terrible  difference,  however,  that  there  shall  be 
no  object  to  minister  to  it  ?  Suppose  the  craving 
appetite  for  sensual  indulgence,  the  burning  thirst 
for  power,  the  sordid  desire  for  wealth,  to  have  gath- 
ered a  thousand  fold  deeper  intensity  than  the  vo- 
luptuary, the  ambitious  man,  the  miser,  ever  felt  on 
earth ;  and  suppose  each  to  be  shut  out  from  all  the 
means  of  gratification ;  and  suppose  the  ungratified 
passion  to  be  for  ever  growing  stronger  as  the  ages 
of  eternity  roll  away — Oh  !  tell  me,  ye  who  have 
known  something  here  of  the  bitterness  of  cherish- 
ing desires  that  could  not  be  met,  tell  me  whether 


88  THE    RULING   PASSION. 

any  thing  beyond  this  is  necessary  to  complete  the 
idea  of  hell. 

Oh  how  terribly,  how  gloriously,  this  thought,  that 
the  ruling  passion  is  to  grow  stronger  for  ever,  bears 
upon  the  future !  How  it  magnifies,  beyond  any 
measure  that  our  conceptions  can  reach,  the  misery 
of  the  lost — the  happiness  of  the  saved ! 

Fix  your  eye  upon  a  man  whose  outward  demon- 
strations are  such,  that  you  cannot  even  doubt  that 
his  ruling  passion  is  for  evil.  Possibly,  he  may  ap- 
pear decent  enough  in  his  ordinary  intercourse ;  but 
whoever  knows  him  well,  knows  that  he  is  revenge- 
ful— that  it  is  in  his  heart  to  pursue  the  man  who  he 
imagines  has  injured  him,  even  to  the  death  ;  knows 
that  he  is  profane — that  he  will,  even  in  cool  blood, 
insult  the  majesty,  and  defy  the  vengeance,  of  Hea- 
ven. If  you  could  see  him  at  certain  times,  when 
his  passions  are  wrought  up  into  a  tempest,  the 
mixture  of  rage  and  blasphemy  that  you  would  wit- 
ness, would  make  you  turn  from  him  with  shud- 
dering, as  from  an  incarnate  fiend.  All  this,  while 
he  is  yet  in  the  body,  and  subject  to  the  numerous 
restraints  incident  to  the  present  state  of  existence. 
Keep  your  eye  upon  him  a  little  while,  and  you 
shall  find  him  a  lost  spirit;  and  now  mark  how 
that  ruling  passion  for  evil,  which  before  seemed 
so  strong,  has  gathered  a  degree  of  strength  that 
mocks  at  the  imbecility  of  all  its  previous  opera- 
"tions.  Mark  off  a  million  of  ages  from  his  exist- 
ence, and  see  how  you  find  the  ruling  passion  then. 
You  may  talk  of  a  giant's  power,  but  that  conveys 
no  idea  of  the  actual  reality.  You  may  collect  every 
image  of  overpowering  strength,  and  of  unqualified 


W.    B.    SPRAGUE,   D.  D.  89 

horror ;  you  may  combine  the  darkness  of  midnight 
with  the  fury  of  the  storm,  and  let  the  flashing  of 
the  lightning,  and  the  rolling  of  the  thunder,  be  the 
terrible  accompaniment,  and  still  you  will  have 
nothing  that  will  more  than  faintly  shadow  forth 
the  might  and  the  misery  seated  in  that  sinner's  bo- 
som. And  who  has  thoughts  far  reaching  enough  to 
overtake  eternity?  And  yet  eternity,  eternity  is 
the  field  on  which  the  ruling  passion  is  to  have  its 
perpetual  development !  I  know  not  all  the  ingre- 
dients in  the  cup  of  trembling,  which  is  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  wicked  in  the  next  world ;  but  it  is 
enough  for  me  to  know,  that  the  ruling  passion  for 
evil,  whose  operations  sometimes  terrify  me  here  on 
earth,  will  not  only  be  an  everlasting  inmate  of  the 
bosom,  but  will  wax  more  fierce,  and  strong,  and 
terrible,  for  ever. 

Now,  look  at  the  man  whose  ruling  passion  is  for 
good,  and  take  the  measure,  if  you  can,  of  the  hap- 
piness which  he  enjoys,  of  the  good  which  he  ac- 
complishes, in  its  progressive  and  eternal  develop- 
ment. As  you  see  him  here,  bearing  afflictions  with 
undisturbed  tranquillity,  encountering  difficulties 
with  an  overcoming  faith,  traversing  the  dark  val- 
ley with  an  unfaltering  step,  you  feel  that  the  up- 
ward tendencies  of  his  spirit  are  strong;  and  you 
are  not  afraid  to  see  him  die,  because  you  are  satis- 
fied that  his  is  the  good  man's  death.  But,  even  in 
all  this,  you  have  seen  the  ruling  passion  of  only  an 
imperfect  Christian.  Wait  a  little,  till  he  has  passed 
the  heavenly  portals,  and  you  may  contemplate  that 
of  a  glorified  saint.  Lay  every  thing  else,  that  may 
enter  into  the  idea  of  future  bliss,  entirely  out  of  view — 


90  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

I  am  sure  you  will  not  doubt  that  here,  in  the  saint's 
own  bosom,  and  at  the  first  moment  after  he  has 
entered  Heaven,  is  enough  to  constitute  the  eternal 
weight  of  glory.  But,  here  again,  look  ye  down 
through  the  vista  of  future  centuries,  fasten  upon 
the  remotest  point  to  which  even  your  imagination 
can  reach,  and  the  ruling  passion  for  doing  good  and 
glorifying  God,  shall  be  acting  with  an  energy  that 
is  the  result  of  the  steady  growth  of  all  the  millions 
of  ages  that  have  intervened.  And  that  shall  be 
the  starting  point  for  a  new  course  of  development 
that  shall  make  all  that  has  preceded  appear  feeble 
and  infantile.  Saint  in  heaven,  I  lose  myself  in  the 
contemplation  of  thy  destiny  !  Be  thou  where  thou 
wilt  in  God's  dominions,  that  ruling  passion  of  thy 
soul,  ever  active  and  ever  growing,  will  keep  thee 
entranced  with  the  glories  of  Heaven. 

Oh  that  I  could  write,  as  with  the  point  of  a 
diamond,  on  the  memories  and  hearts  of  all  our 
young  men,  the  great  practical  lessons  which  this 
subject  suggests  to  them;  that  I  could  show  them 
how  intimately  it  connects  itself  with  all  their 
responsibilities  and  prospects.  Many  of  you,  I 
doubt  not,  have  already  set  your  affections  on  the 
things  that  are  above,  and  are  running  for  the 
heavenly  prize;  but  others  of  you,  I  have  reason 
to  fear,  are  making  haste  for  the  accomplishment 
of  your  own  ruin.  You  are  dreaming  that  the  pres- 
ent is  the  time  for  indulgence,  and  that  the  future 
will  be  the  time  for  repentance ;  that  it  matters 
little  what  you  do  now,  in  the  days  of  your  youth, 
as  there  will  be  time  enough  to  retrieve  your  er- 
rors in  the  graver  period  of  your  maturity.     As  to 


W.   B.   SPRAGTJE,   D.  D.  91 

the  probability  of  your  ever  -seeing  that  period,  I 
leave  it  to  your  own  reflection,  after  you  have 
walked  through  any  burying  ground  you  please,  and 
noticed  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  grave  stones 
mark  the  departure  of  the  young;  but  the  point 
which  I  wish  to  urge  upon  you  is,  that  you  are,  im- 
perceptibly to  yourselves,  forming  a  habit  of  indif- 
ference to  religion ;  that  each  successive  act  of 
indulgence,  or  even  procrastination,  lessens  your 
power  to  resist  temptation,  and  increases  the  proba- 
bility that  you  will  never  repent ;  and  that,  when 
the  anticipated  period  for  giving  your  hearts  to  God 
shall  come,  you  may  find  yourselves  so  entirely 
under  the  dominion  of  your  own  lusts,  as  to  be  dis- 
couraged even  from  any  attempt  to  escape.  I  say, 
then,  your  own  dignity,  your  own  safety,  your  own 
immortality,  protests  against  this  habit  of  delay; 
and  if  you  open  your  eyes  you  will  see  "Danger," 
"Danger,"  written  in  letters  of  fire  upon  every  un- 
hallowed object  to  which  your  affections  incline. 
But  you  are  not  merely  to  be  happy  or  miserable 
yourselves — you  are  to  exert  a  mighty  influence  in 
rendering  others  so ;  and  that  influence  will  operate 
in  the  one  direction  or  the  other,  according  to  the 
character  of  your  own  ruling  passion.  Particularly 
your  country's  interests  are,  to  a  great  extent, 
bound  up  in  you ;  and  the  wise  and  far-seeing,  at 
this  moment,  have  their  eyes  upon  you,  as  they 
would  discern  what  are  the  signs  of  the  times. 
Nay,  there  is  an  imploring  voice  that  comes  up  from 
the  depths  of  the  future — the  voice  of  unborn  gene- 
rations, reminding  you  that  you  are  the  depositories 
of  their  interests,   and   that  the  period  is  rapidly 


92  THE   RULING   PASSION. 

passing  away  in  which  you  can  earn  their  grateful 
benedictions. 

What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?  I  answer,  see  to  it, 
first,  that  your  own  ruling  passion  be  right — that  it 
be  for  truth  and  goodness,  for  conscience  and  for 
God.  If  the  great  work  of  making  it  right  is  yet 
to  be  performed,  come  penitently,  and  confidingly, 
and  obediently,  and  bow  down  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  you  shall  receive  the  clean  heart  at  his  hands. 
And  then  go  abroad  and  try  to  change  the  ruling 
passion  of  the  world.  Labour,  with  all  your  might, 
in  dependance  on  God's  grace,  to  give  to  men's 
thoughts  and  affections  an  upward  direction.  Thus 
you  will  not  only  save  yourselves,  but  be  your 
country's  benefactors  through  all  successive  genera- 
tions ;  and  when  the  ransomed  shall  all  be  gathered 
home,  and  shall  be  joining,  under  the  influence  of 
the  ruling  passion  of  Heaven,  in  a  common  song  to 
Him  who  hath  redeemed  them,  how  ecstatic  will  be 
your  joy  to  recognise  among  them,  not  one,  but 
many,  whose  ruling  passion,  through  your  instru- 
mentality, has  been  changed  from  sin  to  holiness, 
and  whose  eternal  destiny  has  undergone  a  corres- 
ponding change  from  wo  to  bliss — from  hell  to 
Heaven ! 


SUPREMACY  OF  THE  MORAL  LAW. 

BY 

J.   "W.  YEOMANS,   D.   D. 

PASTOR   OF    THE    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    DANVILLE,   PA. 


It  is  easier  for  heaven  and  earth  to  pass  than  one  tittle  of  the  law  to 
fail. — Luke  xvi.  17. 

When  the  Saviour  was  derided  by  covetous 
Pharisees,  for  teaching  that  men  could  not  serve 
God  and  mammon,  he  reminds  them  of  an  univer- 
sal and  unchangeable  law,  by  which  the  actions  and 
characters  of  all  moral  creatures  were  to  be  tried. 
He  warns  them  that,  easily  as  they  might  justify 
themselves  before  men,  there  was  yet  a  tribunal 
where  not  actions  only,  but  hearts  would  be  judged  ; 
and  the  verdict  of  the  degenerate  sentiment  around 
them  could  be  no  safe  criterion  to  prove  their  man- 
ners blameless,  and  their  prospects  fair.  Many 
things  highly  esteemed  among  men  are  abomination 
in  the  sight  of  God ;  and  the  judgment  of  God  is 
the  decision  of  a  last  appeal.  It  decides  by  a  rule 
which  is,  by  eminence,  "  the  law."  And,  however 
men  may  evade  an  honest  and  fair  conformity,  by 
glossing  or  wresting  the  letter,  they  cannot  change 
or  annul  the  law  itself.  That  law  underlies  the 
scheme  of  the    universe.     It   came  out  into  clear 

(93) 


94  SUPREMACY   OF   THE    MORAL   LAW. 

view  in  the  decalogue.  It  inspirited  the  ceremonials 
of  the  ancient  church.  It  breathed  in  all  the 
prophets  until  John.  And  now  that  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  preached,  and  every  man  rusheth  into  it? 
that  same  immutable  law  remains  and  pervades  the 
whole  system.  "  It  is  easier  for  heaven  and  earth 
to  pass  than  one  tittle  of  the  law  to  fail." 

The  rank  thus  given  to  "  the  law,"  above  other 
laws  of  the  universe,  may  be  traced  by  infallible 
signs  in  the  course  of  divine  dispensations.  Indeed, 
it  is  the  fair  presumption,  that  if  the  principle  of 
this  supremacy  of  the  law  belongs  to  the  sj^stem 
of  created  things,  it  will  reveal  itself  in  the  opera- 
tion of  the  system,  and,  most  of  all,  at  those  jDoints 
where  the  ringer  of  God  most  immediately  appears. 

It  is  common  to  speak  of  moral  law  as  most 
properly  the  law  of  God,  in  distinction  from  the 
laws  of  nature.  But  all  the  laws  of  the  creation 
are  both  laws  of  God  and  laws  of  nature — laws  of 
God,  because  God  is  their  author — laws  of  nature, 
because  conceived  to  reside  in  the  nature  of  created 
things.  By  law,  in  the  widest  sense,  we  mean  the 
principle  conceived  as  determining  the  states  and 
actions  of  persons  and  things.  In  this  broad  use  it 
is  applied  alike  to  matter  and  spirit,  even  to  God 
himself;  in  matter,  regulating  force  and  motion  ;  in 
spirit,  controlling  thought  and  feeling,  reason  and 
conscience.  It  is  in  connection  with  reason  and 
conscience  that  this  principle  takes  the  name  of 
moral  law.  Expressed  in  words,  it  becomes,  as  in 
the  Scriptures,  a  body  of  precepts,  defining  and  en- 
joining what  is  right,  and  forbidding  what  is  wrong ; 
and  is  received  as  the  written  will  of  God,  to  be  the 


J.   W.    YEOMANS,    D.  D.  95 

guide  of  our  life.  This  moral  law  is  the  kind  of 
law  which  can  never  fail ;  and  the  signs  which  God 
has  given  of  his  supreme  regard  for  moral  law,  are 
to  be  the  subject  of  our  consideration  in  this  dis- 
course. "  It  is  easier  for  heaven  and  earth  to  pass, 
than  one  tittle  of  the  law  to  fail." 

1.  Of  all  possible  signs  of  the  supremacy  of  moral 
law,  one  of  the  most  comprehensive  and  impressive, 
is  the  dominion  given  to  man  over  the  rest  of  the 
earthly  creation.  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in 
our  own  image,  after  our  likeness,  and  let  him  have 
dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  over  all  the  earth,  and  over  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth.  Thus 
to  man,  a  moral  creature,  and  the  only  moral  in- 
habitant of  the  earth,  is  given  dominion  over  all  the 
earth.  And  this  donation  is  made  to  his  rational 
and  moral  nature ;  to  the  image  and  likeness  of  God 
in  him.  All  things  else  on  the  earth  are  put  under 
him.  He  may  use  them  all  for  his  benefit.  What- 
ever has  the  capacity  of  serving  him  he  may  employ 
in  his  service.  He  is  not  required  to  prefer  the  life 
or  the  enjoyment  of  any  other  earthly  creatures  to 
his  own;  but  when  their  labour  or  suffering  may 
be  useful  to  him,  he  may  exact  it.  When  their 
death  will  promote  his  well  being,  he  is  at  liberty  to 
take  their  life. 

This  gift  of  dominion  over  all  the  earth  shows  the 
high  esteem  of  the  Creator  for  the  moral  principle 
in  the  creation,  and  the  rank  he  has  given  to  moral 
law.  A  creature  who,  without  these  divine  endow- 
ments of  reason  and  conscience,  would  be  no  way 
superior  to  the  other  living  creatures  of  the  earth, 


96  SUPREMACY   OF   THE    MORAL   LAW. 

is  invested  with  an  authority  claimed  solely  for  his 
moral  nature.  The  living  tribes  present  themselves 
before  him  to  receive  their  names,  as  if  to  offer  their 
obeisance  and  their  service.  All  take  their  places 
at  his  feet.  And  while  he  keeps  his  purity,  which 
is  really  the  condition  of  his  power,  he  holds  an  easy 
and  honourable  sway.  This  exaltation  over  other 
creatures  comes  not  from  an  arbitrary  decree,  to  be 
enforced  by  outward  power,  against  the  nature  of 
things.  It  rises  from  the  nature  of  man ;  from  the 
moral  image  of  God  within  him ;  from  the  essential 
supremacy  of  the  moral  principle  in  the  universe. 
It  signifies,  that  in  the  realm  of  God  morality  is  not 
to  be  subservient,  but  supreme ;  that  the  natural 
must  serve  the  moral ;  that  no  power  can  arrest  or 
change  the  course  of  moral  law ;  that  every  valley 
shall  be  raised,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall 
be  brought  low,  and  that  the  way  shall  be  every 
where  prepared  for  fulfilling  the  moral  purposes  of 
God. 

2.  It  is  another  impressive  proof  of  the  supremacy 
of  moral  law,  that  the  other  laws  of  earth  and  hea- 
ven are  so  evidently  used  for  moral  ends. 

In  that  portion  of  the  history  of  the  world  which 
is  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  we  find  the 
pleasure  and  displeasure  of  God  with  the  righteous- 
ness and  unrighteousness  of  men  very  commonly 
expressed  through  the  changes  in  the  material  world. 
Sunshine  and  rain,  cold  and  heat,  all  the  various 
properties  and  motions  of  the  elements,  are  so  freely 
used  to  convey  the  blessing  or  the  curse  of  God  to 
men,  as  to  suggest  the  thought  that  they  were  made 
for  nothing  else.     Hence  that  natural  expectation 


J.    W.    TEOMANS,    D.   D.  97 

which  so  widely  prevails  among  men,  that  a  people 
with  whom  God  is  well  pleased  will  have  fruitful 
seasons,  health,  success  in  their  labours,  and  order 
and  peace  in  their  society ;  and  that  a  people  with 
whom  God  is  displeased  will  suffer  from  famine,  or 
pestilence,  or  the  failure  of  their  favourite  enter- 
prises, or  the  distraction  and  ruin  of  their  social 
state.  And  as  of  communities,  so  of  individuals. 
However  the  course  of  providence  may  seem,  at 
times,  to  depart  from  this  rule,  we  still  find  that  this 
subserviency  of  physical  laws  to  moral  ends  is  one 
of  the  most  common  matters  of  national  expectation 
among  men. 

We  cannot  know  how  far  these  laws  are  thus  ap- 
plied in  fact,  except  by  intelligent  and  constant 
observation,  with  the  eye  of  religious  faith.  Do  you 
believe  in  a  particular  providence  ?  Do  you  see  the 
hand  of  a  moral  ruler  at  all  in  the  changes  of  nature 
around  you  ?  Then  do  you  hear  the  earth,  with 
her  fields  of  barrenness  and  fertility;  the  ocean,  with 
its  calms  and  its  storms;  the  seasons,  with  their 
riches  and  their  poverty ;  the  living  tribes,  with  their 
services  and  their  depredations ;  the  very  hearts  of 
men,  with  their  friendships  and  their  enmities,  all 
uttering,  with  a  majestic  and  overwhelming  elocu- 
tion, the  moral  sentiments  of  God.  The  moral 
events  of  the  kingdom  of  God  are  brought  to  their 
issue  by  the  natural  operation  of  physical  laws.  Is 
there  a  famine  in  Egypt  and  Canaan  ?  It  occasions 
the  promotion  of  Joseph  in  the  government  of  Egypt, 
the  preservation  of  his  father's  family,  their  removal 
into  Egypt,  the  long  and  grievous  bondage  of  the 
Hebrews  there,  their  deliverance  by  a  mighty  hand, 
8 


98  SUPREMACY   OF    THE   MORAL   LAW. 

their  wonderful  pilgrimage  through  the  wilderness, 
their  establishment  in  the  land  of  promise ;  together 
with  all  the  moral  effects  which  followed  those 
events,  and  which  will  follow  them  to  the  end  of 
time.  When  we  consider  the  event,  which  issued 
in  all  these  consequences,  as  a  result  of  the  natural 
operation  of  the  laws  of  matter,  we  can  hardly  resist 
the  conviction  that  those  laws  had  these  effects  for 
their  object,  and  were  an  important  link  in  the  chain 
of  causes  for  filling  the  earth  with  the  moral  glory 
of  the  Lord. 

This  instance  of  natural  laws  resulting  in  moral 
effects,  is  rendered  unquestionable  and  illustrious  by 
having  been  recorded  and  explained  in  the  book  of 
inspiration.  The  history  of  the  events  is  written 
by  the  infallible  pen,  and  the  events  are  placed  in 
their  true  relation  to  each  other.  But  suppose  all 
history  to  be  written  by  inspiration  of  God ;  what 
but  that  same  infallible  discernment  would  be  needed 
to  trace  all  physical  changes  to  moral  effects  ?  Would 
not  all  nature  then  seem  instinct  with  the  moral  de- 
signs of  her  Maker  ?  Who  could  then  doubt  that  the  un- 
conscious, as  well  as  the  conscious,  being  of  the  world, 
is  geared  into  the  spiritual  kingdom,  and  forms  one 
system  with  it,  and  is  moving  always,  under  the 
guidance  of  God,  towards  his  moral  ends?  Thus 
all  the  changes  of  the  world  become  illustrations 
and  supports  of  moral  character  and  moral  law. 
Each  contributes  to  its  appropriate  moral  effect,  as 
each  ray  of  converging  light  contributes  to  form  the 
bright  and  burning  focus.  Not  that  each  separate 
event  must  have,  by  itself,  a  moral  significancy,  any 
more  than  each  letter  in  a  volume  of  history  must 


J.    W.    YEOMANS,    D.   D.  99 

have  a  distinct  historical  signification ;  but  the 
series,  as  a  whole,  is  an  inscription  of  the  moral  law, 
and  the  moral  character  of  God  on  the  material 
tables  of  the  universe. 

Now  it  is  not  at  all  essential  to  the  authority  and 
power  of  moral  law,  that  it  should  always  have  this 
form  of  expression.     It  may,  for  the  present,  be  con- 
venient ;  it  may  suit  the  circumstances  of  the  sub- 
jects who  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  who,  like  ourselves, 
are  interwoven  with  a  material  and  temporary  sys- 
tem;  but  for  subjects   under  other   circumstances, 
these  same  spiritual  laws  may  be  better  expressed 
in  other  characters.     It  is  convenient  for  English 
people  that  their  laws  should  be  written  in   the 
English  tongue ;  but  for  people  of  other  languages, 
the  English  law  books  would  be  useless,  an  incum- 
brance, fit  only  for  burning,  while  the  laws  them- 
selves, in  their  spirit,  might  suit  other  people,  and 
remain"  to  be  expressed  in  other  forms.     Thus  will 
the  time  come  when  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  as 
books  of  moral  law,  will  have  no  further  use ;  when 
these  forms  of  moral  expression  will  become  obso- 
lete, superfluous,  fit  only  for  the  fire;    when  the 
heavens  shall  be  rolled  together  as   a  scroll,  and, 
being  on  fire,  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  elements 
shall  melt  with  fervent  heat ;  the  earth  also,  and  all 
the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burned  up ;  while 
the  laws  of  truth  and  righteousness,  which  the  hea- 
vens and  the  earth  have  so  long  been  used  to  explain 
and  enforce,  shall  remain  in  their   authority  and 
glory  for  ever.     "  It  is  easier  for  heaven  and  earth  to 
pass  than  one  tittle  of  the  law  to  fail." 

3.  Yet  more  shall  we  feel  the  force  of  this  truth 


100  SUPREMACY   OF    THE    MORAL   LAW. 

when  we  observe,  how  often  and  signally  God  has, 
for  moral  purposes,  actually  interrupted  the  order 
of  nature. 

Aiming  at  a  moral  impression  on  the  world,  he 
does  mighty  works  in  Egypt ;  and,  beginning  with 
Moses,  he  shows  a  bush  burning  with  fire,  but  not 
consumed;  he  changes  a  rod  into  a  serpent,  and 
the  serpent  again  into  a  rod;  he  makes  the  hand 
of  Moses,  at  one  moment,  leprous  —  at  another, 
whole ;  then,  turning  upon  Egypt,  he  changes  the 
waters  into  blood,  covers  the  land  with  darkness, 
with  flies,  and  with  frogs — afflicts  the  people  with  a 
storm  of  hail,  with  murrain  upon  their  cattle,  with 
boils  and  blains  upon  themselves,  and,  finally,  with 
the  death  of  the  first  born  of  every  family ;  and  all 
this  by  a  professed  departure  from  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature.  Thus  awfully  were  earth  and 
heaven  confounded,  to  give  Egypt  and  the  world  an 
impression  of  the  true  God;  and,  as  the  Hebrews 
went  forth  from  bondage,  they  also  must  be  con- 
firmed in  the  knowledge  and  fear  of  the  Lord ;  and, 
for  this  purpose,  a  path  for  them  is  made  through 
the  sea,  and  their  pursuers  are  destroyed  in  the  re- 
turning waters.  Forty  years  long  was  nature 
turned  out  of  her  ordinary  course,  six  days  of  every 
seven,  to  supply  that  people  with  their  daily  bread ; 
and  every  day  of  the  seven  to  form  a  cloud  for 
their  guidance  by  day  and  their  defence  by  night. 
Water  flows  from  the  rock  for  their  thirst;  quails 
flock  to  their  camp  as  a  supply  of  meat ;  the  Jor- 
dan parts  its  overflowing  waters,  as  of  its  own 
accord,  to  give  them  a  dry  passage.  At  their  en- 
trance on  the  land  of  promise  the  walls  of  Jericho, 


J.    W.    YEOMANS,    D.    D.  101 

as  of  themselves,  fall  down  to  give  them  possession. 
The  Lord  thus  led  that  people  through  a  wilder- 
ness of  miracle,  to  teach  them  and  the  world  his 
name  and  will ;  to  establish  with  them  the  practical 
supremacy  of  moral  law ;  to  show  that  people  that 
the  natural  is  made  for  the  spiritual ;  that  the 
world,  in  all  its  other  departments  of  law  and  of 
life,  must  yield  to  disruption,  dislocation,  nay,  to 
utter  confusion  and  destruction,  to  exalt  the  laws  of 
the  Spirit.  Behold  how  the  Creator  will  prepare  the 
way  of  his  moral  authority  and  power,  through  the 
solid  mountains  of  his  physical  dominions,  wherever 
they  cross  his  path,  and  may  help  forward  his  moral 
work.  The  sun  and  moon  stop  in  their  courses,  at 
the  word  of  one  of  his  servants ;  those  great  lights 
leave  their  apparent  place  in  the  firmament  to  con- 
vince men  that  the  God  of  Israel  is  Jehovah.  The 
heavens  might  be  deranged,  but  the  world  must  not 
be  without  the  knowledge  of  the  living  and  true 
God.  It  was  easier  for  the  heavens  to  be  thrown 
into  disorder,  than  for  an  impression  in  favour  of 
moral  law  to  be  lost.  It  was  "  easier  for  heaven  and 
earth  to  pass  than  one  tittle  of  the  law  to  fail." 

But,  of  all  the  illustrations  of  this  branch  of  our 
subject,  the  most  commanding  is  given  in  the  incar- 
nation of  the  Son  of  God.  In  the  person  of  the 
Mediator  between  God  and  man,  there  was  an  amaz- 
ing departure  from  the  established  course  of  nature. 
And  what  lifts  this  case  immeasurably  above  all 
others,  which  either  have  been  or  can  be,  is  the  fact, 
that  it  involves,  not  only  deviation  from  the  estab- 
lished laws  of  human  nature,  but  also  a  mysterious 
and  astonishing   departure  from  the  mode  of  the 


102  SUPREMACY   OF   THE   MORAL   LAW. 

divine  existence  itself,  as  previously  known.  In 
other  cases,  God  has  taken  creatures  out  of  the 
course  which  he  had  established  for  them ;  in  this 
case,  he  himself  steps  out  of  the  previous  mode  of 
his  existence  and  action.  He  gives  what  may  be 
called,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  a  miraculous  manifesta- 
tion of  himself,  and  takes  a  relation  to  humanity 
altogether  extraordinary — the  only  case  of  the  kind 
in  the  history  of  his  self-revelations.  He  takes  hu- 
manity to  himself  as  a  personal  constituent,  with 
even  an  earthly  body.  The  nature  of  God  becomes 
joined  to  the  nature  of  man,  not  as  God  is  joined  to 
other  beings,  who  live,  and  move,  and  have  their 
being  in  him,  but  as  a  constitutional  part  of  a  per- 
son, as  the  body  is  the  part  of  the  man. 

Although  man  had  fallen  from  the  law  of  the 
Spirit  of  life,  yet  must  he  not  be  allowed  wholly  to 
fail  of  this  glorious  property  and  end  of  his  being. 
It  must  be  restored  to  him ;  and,  to  accomplish  this, 
the  Creator  produces  a  new  creation,  and  sets  him- 
self before  the  world  in  a  person  and  a  relation 
which  we  know  not  how  to  describe.  The  very 
sight  of  this  wonder,  with  the  eye  of  an  enlightened 
faith,  is  overwhelming.  Man  had  the  laws  of  his 
formation  established  from  the  first,  and  uniformly 
observed,  by  the  Author  of  human  generations,  till 
the  appearance  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  flesh.  God 
had  his  modes  of  existence  and  of  revelation,  which 
had  appeared  to  be  established  from  the  time  that 
man  existed  to  behold  them,  and  which  had  never 
before,  in  the  whole  course  of  divine  manifestations, 
presented  such  a  form  as  this.  But  an  interest  of 
the  spiritual  kingdom  is  to  be  secured.     Now  the 


J.    W.    YEOMANS,    D.  D.  103 

way  of  God  in  saving  men  is  no  longer  to  be  pur- 
sued invisibly,  but  is  to  be  fully  declared,  that  its 
impression  may  be  fixed  in  the  hearts  of  angels  and 
of  men,  and  that  it  may  bear  its  part  in  the  consti- 
tution and  advancement  of  the  church.  And  what 
were  the  laws  of  the  human  nature  now?  What 
were  now  the  laws  (for  so  we  may  here  call  them) 
which  had  controlled  before  the  modes  of  the  Divine 
existence,  and  determined  the  previous  relations  of 
God  to  created  things  ?  To  make  men  believe  his 
word,  and  accept  his  favour,  he  takes  away  both  the 
human  nature  and  the  divine  from  the  course  of 
their  previous  and  accustomed  manifestations,  and 
presents  them  in  an  extraordinary,  a  miraculous,  re- 
lation to  each  other.  It  was  easier  for  the  estab- 
lished law  of  human  generations  to  be  given  up, 
than  for  the  violated  law  of  spiritual  life  in  man  to 
be  suffered  utterly  to  fail ;  it  was  easier  for  a  man 
to  be  conceived  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  to  be  born  of  a  virgin,  than  for  one  tittle  of  that 
law  of  spiritual  life  to  fail ;  it  was  easier  for  God  to 
be  born  of  a  woman,  to  be  made  under  the  law  of 
humanity,  to  become  properly  and  truly  a  man,  to 
grow  up  in  body  and  in  mind  like  a  human  child,  to 
think,  feel,  and  act  as  a  man,  to  labor,  suffer,  and 
die  as  a  man,  than  for  one  tittle  of  that  law  to  fail. 
When  we  behold  God  clothed  in  the  form,  and  sub- 
ject to  the  conditions,  of  humanity,  and  a  man  per- 
vaded by  the  nature  of  God ;  when  we  see  the  hand 
of  that  mysterious  person  parting  the  net  work  of 
nature  wherever  he  would  have  a  passage  through 
it  to  Iris  moral  ends ;  when  we  see  him  walking  on 
the  sea,  stilling  the  tempest,  causing  the  blind  to 


104  SUPREMACY   OF    THE   MORAL   LAW. 

see,  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  dumb  to  speak,  and  the 
dead  to  live ;  when  we  see  Him,  who  only  hath  im- 
mortality, sinking  under  mortal  pains,  and  giving 
up  the  ghost  like  a  dying  man,  and  continuing  under 
the  power  of  death  for  a  time,  while  the  sun  is  dark- 
ened, the  rocks  are  rent,  graves  are  opened,  and  the 
earth  quakes  to  its  centre;  we  then  behold  what 
confusion  may  come  to  the  material  laws  of  earth 
and  heaven,  rather  than  that  one  tittle  of  the  spi- 
ritual law  should  fail. 

This  wonder,  wrought  for  the  introduction  of  the 
gospel,  is  but  the  beginning  of  wonders.  The  whole 
work  of  redemption,  as  carried  on  in-  the  church, 
and  in  the  souls  of  individual  believers,  is,  as  it 
were,  a  propagation  of  this  miracle.  The  natural 
powers  of  heaven  and  earth  are  wrought  into  the 
system,  and  made  subservient  to  redemption  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  Redeemer ;  while  the  efficient  power 
which  works  through  them,  to  the  perfection  of  the 
new  creation,  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  Thus  the  law  of 
life  is  restored.  God  may  condescend,  in  all  the 
forms  of  his  manifestation,  as  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  to  dwell  in  his  people.  The  entire  fashion 
of  the  old  creation  may  pass  away.  God,  the  Eter- 
nal, the  Infinite,  may  bring  earth  and  heaven  to- 
gether to  form  for  himself  an  abode  among  men,  but 
not  a  tittle  of  the  law  can  fail. 

4.  We  may  finally  observe,  how  this  supremacy 
*  of  moral  law  in  the  universe  finds  acceptance  with 
the  reason  and  conscience  of  man.     We  feel  a  natu- 
ral agreement  with  it,  and  act  in  conformity  with  it, 
when  we  follow  the  higher  dictates  of  our  nature. 

If  the  moral  sentiments  of  men  vary  with  their 


J.    W.    YEOMANS,    D.    D.  105 

different  degrees  of  cultivation,  this  fact  is  strongly 
to  our  point;  for  it  shows  that  the  more  a  man  is 
cultivated,  according  to  the  laws  of  his  nature,  the 
more  does  he  exalt  the  moral  above  the  physical. 
Among  savages,  where  physical  power  is  law,  the 
strongest  man  is  the  greatest  man.  The  progress 
of  culture  elevates  reason  and  intelligence,  in  the 
estimation  of  men,  and  assigns  to  mere  bodily 
strength  a  lower  place.  And  when  the  moral  senti- 
ments of  a  community  begin  to  share  in  the  judg- 
ments of  reason,  the  moral  qualities  rise,  at  once, 
above  all  others ;  and  the  maxim  is  established, 
that  the  good  alone  are  truly  great.  Hence  every 
man,  of  the  true  moral  culture,  makes  no  account 
of  bodily  comfort,  of  property,  or  of  intellectual 
reputation  and  influence,  when  his  moral  character 
is  at  stake.  Hence  all  people,  sufficiently  enlight- 
ened to  distinguish  the  physical,  the  intellectual, 
and  the  moral  in  man,  instinctively  regard  the 
moral  as  the  crown  of  human  nature ;  the  part  of 
man  for  which  the  other  parts  were  made ;  the 
foundation  of  all  the  real  improvement  and  happi- 
ness of  the  race.  This  preference  for  moral  excel- 
lence rises  from  the  constitution  of  man.  It  ap- 
pears wherever  man  has  any  just  development;  and 
wherever  it  thus  appears,  it  exemplifies  and  illus- 
trates the  supremacy  of  moral  law  in  the  universe. 
Suppose,  now,  this  order  of  things  in  the  world 
reversed.  Let  the  moral  kingdom  be  made  for  the 
physical;  let  it  be  once  proclaimed  that  man  was 
made  for  the  horse,  the  sparrow  the  worm ;  for  the 
cedar,  the  thorn  and  the  thistle  ;  that  men  are  to  be 
reared  as  food  for  the  lion,  or  as  nourishment  for  the 


106  SUPREMACY   OF   THE    MORAL   LAW. 

oak;  that  their  reason  must  be  trained  to  secure 
that  end;  that  the  conscience  must  be  employed 
only  to  prevent,  or  to  detect  and  punish  all  devia- 
tions from  that  course ;  let  it  once  be  enjoined  on 
men  to  obey  their  bodily  appetites  alone,  subjecting 
reason  and  conscience  wholly  to  their  sway,  and 
holding  the  spirit  in  bondage  to  the  flesh  in  all 
things ;  could  such  an  order  of  things  be  received 
by  man  ?  What  a  war  would  it  raise  between  the 
world  without  and  the  world  within  !  Without,  the 
natural  claiming  supremacy — within,  the  moral; 
the  facts  of  observation  without  at  constant  strife 
with  reason  and  conscience  within.  To  make  such 
a  world,  and  put  such  a  creature  as  man  upon  it, 
would  show  such  want  of  natural  adaptation  in  the 
parts  of  the  creation,  it  would  be  so  unlike  God  as 
we  now  know  him,  that  we  could  not  believe  its 
possibility.  To  us  it  must  ever  seem  a  thing  im- 
possible with  God,  so  imperiously  does  the  moral 
sense  of  mankind  demand  the  supremacy  of  moral 
law.  And  such  a  decision  is  worthy  of  our  moral 
nature.  Those  high  powers  which  make  us  the 
kindred  of  angels  and  of  God,  however  we  degrade 
them  in  practice,  we  cannot  disparage  in  theory. 
Men  challenge  honour  for  reason  and  conscience, 
though  they  may  not  follow  their  counsel.  We  are 
the  natural  and  necessary  advocates  of  the  su- 
premacy of  moral  law,  and  whenever  the  principle 
is  asserted  in  the  hearing  of  our  higher  nature,  we 
say,  Amen ;  let  it  be  "  easier  for  heaven  and  earth  to 
pass  than  one  tittle  of  the  law  to  fail." 

Of  the  practical  suggestions  which  arise  from  this 
view  of  the  supremacy  of  moral  law,  I  mention, 


J.   W.    YEOMANS,   D.    D.  107 

1.  The  natural  necessity  of  ruin  as  a  consequence 
of  sin.  We  are  familiar  with  the  consequences  of 
breaking  the  physical  laws  of  our  being.  If  a  man 
will  not  sow,  he  cannot  reap  ;  if  a  man  will  not  con- 
sider, he  must  fall  into  trouble ;  if  he  walks  among 
pits,  with  his  eyes  shut,  he  must  fall ;  the  sluggard 
must  see  his  poverty  come  as  one  that  travelleth, 
and  his  wants  as  an  armed  man ;  the  drunkard 
must  abide  his  poverty,  his  broken  health,  his  shat- 
tered intellect,  his  premature  death.  From  such 
penalties  of  physical  transgression  how  shall  he  es- 
cape ;  but  sooner,  far  sooner,  may  the  sluggard 
grow  rich,  the  careless  and  imprudent  prosper,  the 
drunkard  drink  health,  wealth,  long  life,  and  mental 
power  and  splendor  from  his  cups,  than  the  breaker 
of  the  least  commandment  of  the  moral  law  escape 
the  threatened  punishment.  Not  a  tittle  of  the  law 
can  fail. 

2.  In  the  light  of  this  inviolable  law,  how  pre- 
cious is  the  gospel.  Jesus  Christ  came  to  seek  and 
to  save  them  that  are  lost ;  but  how  hopelessly  lost 
are  the  transgressors  of  such  a  law.  Think  of  those 
bonds  of  nature  which  hold  the  rivers  in  their  course 
to  the  ocean;  which  hold  the  ocean  in  its  bed,  and 
the  mountain  on  its  base,  and  preserve  the  harmony 
of  the  celestial  world.  The  planet,  falling  by  an  in- 
ward infirmity  from  its  orbit,  what  power  of  nature 
can  restore  it?  What  can  save  it  from  being  a  wan- 
dering star,  to  which  is  reserved  the  blackness  of 
darkness  for  ever?  But  all  the  stars  of  heaven,  once 
fallen,  might  easier  rise  again,  by  a  self-restoring 
power,  than  a  man,  fallen  from  the  guidance  of  his 
moral  nature,  by  an  inward  infirmity,  restore  him- 


108  SUPREMACY   OF   THE   MORAL   LAW. 

self  to  righteousness  and  happiness.  How  mighty 
and  merciful  the  hand  which  redeems  from  such  a 
fall !  Let  every  sinner  lay  hold  upon  it ;  for  how 
shall  he  escape  if  he  neglect  so  great  salvation  ? 

3.  In  the  light  of  this  subject,  the  value  of  our 
spiritual  interests  appears  altogether  inestimable. 
What  is  the  brief  welfare  of  the  present  life  in  the 
comparison  ?  Even  the  lawful  pursuits  of  this  life, 
and  those  most  important  to  our  earthly  happiness, 
have  only  a  superficial  and  transient  worth.  The 
true  basis  of  our  prosperity,  for  time  and  eternity,  is 
the  law  of  our  moral  nature.  Seek  first  the  king- 
dom of  God.  Lay  up  your  treasures  in  heaven. 
Build  on  the  rock  which  forms  the  basis  of  the  uni- 
verse. The  loose  and  dissoluble  masses  which  have 
been  collected  on  that  rock,  and  which  the  weight 
of  temporal  interests  seems  almost  to  have  petrified 
upon  it,  will  not  continue.  A  catastrophe  is  coming. 
The  imperishable  foundations  of  the  moral  world 
will  rise,  heaving  from  their  surface  the  dissolving 
rubbish  of  a  temporal  economy,  and  thenceforth 
remaining  only  the  glorious  support  of  perfect  righte- 
ousness for  ever. 


DISTRUST  OF  THE  WORD. 

BT 

J.  W.  ALEXANDER,  D.  D. 

PASTOR   OF   THE   DTTANE    STREET   CHURCH,   NEW   YORK. 


The  children  of  Ephraim,  being  armed,  and  carrying  bows,  turned 
back  in  the  day  of  battle. — Psalm  Lxviii.  9. 

This  ill  conduct  of  the  Ephraimites,  in  turning 
their  backs  upon  the  enemy,  is  referred  by  expositors 
to  various  events.  It  is  by  no  means  unnatural  to 
consider  the  Psalmist  as  alluding  to  the  surrender  of 
the  ark  to  the  Philistines ;  for  Shiloh,  then  the  seat 
of  the  tabernacle,  was  within  the  tribe  of  Ephraim. 
1  Sam.  iv.  4.  Whenever  and  wherever  it  occurred, 
it  presented  the  mortifying  spectacle  of  a  host  in  re- 
treat, and  this  when  amply  furnished  with  weapons 
of  war.  Ephraim,  being  armed,  and  carrying  bows, 
turned  back  in  the  day  of  battle.  The  passage 
stands  hi  the  midst  of  rehearsals  of  victories  and  de- 
liverances, and  of  rebukes  for  unbelief  and  doubt. 
It  was  "written  for  our  learning,"  and  we  cannot 
meditate  on  it,  without  a  sad  reflection  that  we,  as 
a  part  of  God's  Israel,  are  engaged  in  a  warfare,  and 
summoned  to  "  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith ;"  that  ice 
are  armed  with  the  grand  weapon  of  faith — the  Word 
of  God  ;  that  we  too  have  sometimes  turned  to  flight, 
or  proved  cowards  in  Christ's  cause ;  and  that  the 

(10S) 


110  DISTRUST   OF   THE   WORD. 

shame  of  our  sin  is  the  greater,  inasmuch  as  the 
weapon  which  we  have  distrusted  is  of  divine  power. 
Believing  Israel  to  be  a  type  of  the  church,  and  the 
words  of  the  text  to  be  for  all  ages  of  Christianity,  I 
do  not  consider  it  in  the  least  opposed  to  the  analogy 
of  New  Testament  precedent,  to  give  this  general 
principle  of  the  Hebrew  psalm  a  particular  applica- 
tion. Dismissing  the  figure,  therefore,  let  us  seriously 
meditate  on  what  it  represents. 

It  is  true  of  multitudes  who  are  engaged  in  the 
Christian  warfare,  that  they  are  distrustful  of  their 
own  weapons.  For  a  soldier,  there  could  hardly  be 
a  more  unfortunate  prepossession.  His  blows  must 
be  half-delivered,  and  his  disposition  to  parley  or  to 
flee,  exceedingly  subversive  of  bold  fighting.  The 
grand  weapon  of  the  Christian  soldier  is  thus  ex- 
pressed, in  the  most  general  terms,  and  in  a  meta- 
phor— "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of 
God."  This  is  the  great  instrument  of  assault  against 
the  world  and  against  himself;  for  it  is  a  peculi- 
arity of  our  warfare,  that  some  of  our  most  obstinate 
battles  take  place  within  the  walls.  The  truth  of 
God,  however  largely  understood,  is  the  name  of 
our  whole  offensive  armour.  This  truth  in  general, 
and  certain  prominent  truths  in  particular,  are  pre- 
cisely what  the  Captain  of  Salvation  has  put  into  our 
hands,  to  be  used  against  the  adversary.  It  is  a  firm 
confidence  in  the  temper,  strength,  and  edge  of  these 
weapons,  which  makes  the  brave  combatant.  And 
it  is  the  distrust  of  our  unbelieving  minds  in  these 
qualities  of  the  Word  of  God,  which  I  would  endea- 
vour to  stigmatise  and  remove.  The  fault  here  pointed 
out  is  not  the  fault  of  one  and  another  merely,  but 


J.   W.    ALEXANDER,    D.  D.  Ill 

in  some  degree  of  us  all ;  of  ministers  as  well  as  peo- 
ple ;  of  societies  and  churches,  as  well  as  of  humble 
individuals. 

I  shall  endeavour  to  show  how  this  distrust  of 
divine  truth  is  exhibited;  how  it  operates  against 
the  success  of  Christian  effort,  and  how  it  may  be 
removed. 

I.  Distrust  of  divine  truth,  as  the  main  offen- 
sive WEAPON  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  WAR,  IS  EVINCED  IN  A 
VARIETY  OF  WAYS. 

1.  By  the  disposition  common  to  us  all,  to  resort 
to  oilier  instruments  than  those  which  God  has  ap- 
pointed. Not  error  merely,  in  opposition  to  truth ; 
but  sundry  agencies,  of  a  purely  secular  kind,  are 
employed  by  Christians  to  accomplish  those  very  ends 
for  which  the  Scriptures  are  put  into  their  hands. 
If  the  world  is  to  be  reformed,  we  fly  to  arrange- 
ments and  causes  which  are  external,  economical, 
patriotic,  literary,  or  simply  moral,  rather  than  to 
that  which  is  spiritual.  Things  good  in  themselves, 
and  pre-eminently  good  when  subordinated  to  the 
gospel,  become  usurpations,  malign  and  dangerous, 
when  they  supplant  God's  ordinance.  The  world  is 
to  be  reformed,  and,  under  God,  we  are  to  reform  it ; 
but  in  God's  way,  and  by  his  methods.  The  cor- 
rupt mass  of  mankind,  tending,  by  virtue  of  internal 
maladies,  to  a  catastrophe  of  disorder,  vice  and  woe, 
is  to  be  regulated,  purified  and  blessed  by  a  certain 
prescribed  agency,  set  forth  in  all  its  details  in  this 
book.  In  the  midst  of  the  great  self-destroying  mass 
is  placed  a  small  but  mighty  engine,  to  accomplish 
an  end  for  which  philanthropists  and  politicians  are 
sighing  and  labouring  in  vain.     This  energy  within, 


112  DISTRUST   OF   THE   WORD. 

which  is  to  change  the  face  of  human  society,  and 
insure  universal  brotherhood,  is  the  Church:  the 
Church,  my  brethren;  not  of  Rome,  of  England,  or 
of  Geneva,  but  the  Church  of  the  first-born  of  God; 
namely,  the  family  of  true  believers,  sanctified  by  the 
truth  called  out  of  all  nations,  washed  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,  and  enclosing  an  infant  generation 
baptized  into  the  Lord's  name.  The  means  by  which 
this  community  is  to  effect  so  gigantic  a  result  is 
one  and  simple  ;  it  is  the  truth  revealed  hi  the  Scrip- 
ture. To  substitute  for  this  any  other  agency,  for 
the  same  ends,  and  not  in  subordination  to  this  di- 
vine principle,  is  to  change  the  whole  method  of  war- 
fare, and  to  forsake  our  own  professions  and  stand- 
ards. If  the  Church  could  be  proved  insufficient 
for  what  it  proposes,  this  would  afford  a  just  reason 
for  trying  other  means ;  but  it  would,  at  the  same 
time,  prove  the  claims  of  Christianity  to  be  groundless. 
If  other  ends,  not  contemplated  by  the  gospel  methods, 
are  proposed,  they  may  indeed  be  sought  by  other 
means;  but  such  ends  are,  by  the  very  supposition, 
temporal,  and  therefore  inferior.  The  great  moral 
changes  which  would  make  our  world  a  happy  world, 
are  exactly  what  the  Church  is  ordained  to  effect,  by 
means  of  the  truth  ;  and  for  all  these  ends  the  Church 
is  sufficient.  When  wisdom  has  fully  considered  the 
line  between  these  two  classes  of  results,  and  allotted 
to  Christianity  those  which  are  her  part,  it  is  a  sort 
of  disrespect  to  the  system  we  profess,  to  use  for  the 
same  purpose  other  machinery  than  that  which  God 
has  prescribed ;  and  to  do  so  is  to  manifest  distrust 
of  God's  way. 

2.  The  same  distrust  is  evinced  by  a  prone?iess  in 


J.    W.    ALEXANDER,    D.   D.  113 

many  of  us  to  modify  or  conceal  the  statements  of  re- 
vealed truth.  All  truths  are  not  alike  fundamental, 
nor  applicable  alike  to  all  cases  and  at  all  times ; 
but  every  truth  of  this  record  has  its  place  and  sea- 
son of  application,  and  is  then  and  there  to  be  ap- 
plied without  reserve  or  tampering — for  this  plain 
reason,  that  it  is  the  God  of  truth  who  utters  it. 
But  how  often  does  it  happen,  that  in  addresses  to 
the  body  of  believers,  in  exhortations  to  the  una- 
wakened,  in  counsel  to  the  inquiring,  or  appeals  to 
our  own  hearts,  we  falter  in  delivering  the  pure,  un- 
adulterated word,  and  feel  half  afraid  that  it  may  do 
more  harm  than  good !  How  often  does  worldly 
fear  seal  up  the  lips  which  were  ready  to  pronounce 
the  doctrine  of  God's  sovereign  election ;  or  worldly 
policy  drive  back  the  free  current  of  gracious  invita- 
tion !  More  watchful  against  momentary  offence,  and 
occasional  abuse,  than  against  the  j^mianent  and 
destructive  influence  of  ignorance  and  all  error,  we 
seal  up  the  very  fountains  which  God  has  caused  to 
flow  from  the  smitten  rock.  Hence  we  shudder 
when  the  preacher  declares  the  statements  of  Jeho- 
vah himself,  respecting  his  own  awful  decrees,  or  the 
irrevocable  damnation  of  the  djdng  hypocrite ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  stand  ready,  when  he  publishes 
the  grace  of  Calvary,  to  hang  chains  and  weights  on 
the  freedom  of  an  offer  which  flies  far  and  high  above 
all  legal  preparations  and  conditions.  Thus  have  a 
thousand  errors  and  heresies  arisen.  Men  have 
thought  themselves  more  prudent  than  the  All-wise. 
The  Law  has  been  lowered  lest  sinners  should  call  it 
hard ;  the  way  has  been  hedged  up,  lest  the  blind, 
and  the  halt,  and  the  lame,  should  find  it  too  easy ; 
9 


114 


DISTRUST   OF   THE  WORD. 


the  Church  has  been  barricaded  with  walls  of  cere- 
mony, and  garrisoned  with  ranks  of  officials,  lest  some 
of  its  riches  should  be  pilfered  by  dissent ;  and  the 
blessed  Gospel,  free  as  the  air  of  Paradise,  has  been 
laden  with  conditions  and  restrictions,  lest  faith 
should  be  too  simple.  In  every  one  of  these,  and  in 
a  thousand  like  ways,  men  show  their  distrust  of 
divine  revelation. 

3.  Another  proof  of  distrust  in  regard  to  the  truth 
of  God,  is  the  small  measure  and  lukewarm  temper  in 
which  we  actually  use  it.  If  it  is  what  we  profess 
to  believe,  it  is  an  instrument  suited  to  an  infinite 
diversity  of  objects,  all  included  in  the  one  result  of 
making  men  better  and  happier.  With  this  persua- 
sion deeply  fixed  in  our  minds,  we  should  be  jDer- 
petually  employing  it  for  these  ends;  we  should 
bring  it  forth,  and  apply  it  to  the  daily  emergencies 
of  labour,  study,  trade,  and  domestic  life ;  we  should 
use  it  for  a  standard,  as  we  use  the  familiar  stand- 
ards of  our  common  business,  when  we  measure, 
weigh,  or  calculate.  We  should  bring  to  this  test 
the  morality  and  expediency  of  many  an  act,  and 
the  purity  of  many  a  motive.  That  we  do  not,  is 
only  a  proof  how  little  we  are  Christians.  It  shows 
at  how  low  a  rate  we  estimate  the  cogency  of  scrip- 
tural principle ;  that  there  are  so  many  things  in 
commerce,  in  study,  in  politics,  in  education,  and  in 
social  reform,  (all  involving  moral  relations,)  which 
we  never  bring  into  the  light  of  God's  word.  We 
carry  on  our  affairs,  and  dispose  of  our  property,  and 
plan  our  amusements,  and  execute  great  changes  in 
life,  and  bring  up  our  children,  and  make  our  wills, 
without  once  turning  to  God's  book  to  find  how  these 


J.    W.    ALEXANDER,    D.   D.  115 

several  steps,  which  really  make  up  the  aggregate 
of  our  lives,  are  regarded  in  heaven. 

He  who  trusts  in  God's  word  as  an  infallible  di- 
rectory, will  never  find  a  day  in  which  he  can  live 
without  its  guidance.  He  cannot  rise  from  sleep, 
without  a  query  how  the  day's  plan  may  be  laid  so 
as  to  find  him,  like  Enoch,  walking  with  God ;  or 
take  his  early  meal,  without  a  purpose  that  it  be 
sanctified  by  the  word  of  God  and  prayer.  He  can- 
not receive  his  dues,  without  considering  how  much 
he  oweth  unto  his  Lord,  and  how  much  he  is  in  dan- 
ger from  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness.  He  can- 
not meet  a  friend,  without  casting  about  for  a  scrip- 
ture maxim  which  may  sanctify  their  union ;  or  an 
enemy,  without  guarding  his  temper  by  the  precept 
of  forgiveness.  Nor  can  he  close  his  doors,  and  "go 
up  to  the  habitation  of  his  bed,"  until  he  has  looked 
back  over  the  journey  of  the  day,  and  applied  to  it 
the  lesson  of  God's  statutes.  And  the  fact  that  all 
this  is  unknown  in  the  days  of  any  professing  Chris- 
tians, is  too  conclusive  an  argument  of  their  habitual 
distrust  of  heavenly  truth  as  the  instrument  of  their 
sanctification. 

4.  One  evidence  more  will  suffice  to  show  our  dis- 
trust of  divine  truth.  It  is  our  neglect  of  this  vol- 
ume. The  soldier  who  has  a  favourite  weapon  is 
apt  to  be  very  much  engaged  in  exercising  it,  and 
preparing  to  wield  it.  We  have  read  of  the  knights 
in  the  days  of  chivalry,  and  of  their  trusty  swords, 
many  of  which  had  inscriptions  of  honour  and  names 
of  endearment.  Many  were  the  hours  spent  in 
sharpening  and  polishing  these  blades ;  many  more 
in  brandishing  them  by  way  of  preparation,  so  as  to 


116 


DISTRUST   OF   THE   WORD. 


learn  their  qualities,  and  how  to  make  them  effect- 
ual. All  this  proved  how  truly  they  valued  their 
arms,  and  it  tended  towards  valorous  conflict  and 
easy  victory.  But  we  have  a  sword  which  we  treat 
after  a  different  fashion.  It  lies  on  our  pulpits,  per- 
haps on  our  tables.  We  bring  it  forth  on  special  oc- 
casions, and  never  mention  it  but  with  devotion. 
We  enshrine  it,  and  praise  it — would  fight  for  it,  but 
not  with  it.  It  lies,  like  the  sword  of  Goliath  the 
Philistine,  at  the  dwelling  of  the  priest  Abimelech, 
"wrapped  in  a  cloth  behind  the  ephod."  1  Sam. 
xxi.  9.  Whereas  we  should  say  of  it,  as  did  David: 
"  There  is  none  like  that :  give  it  me"  The  sword  of 
the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God,  requires  to  be 
taken  up  in  the  way  of  daily  exercise.  It  will  be  so 
handled  by  those  who  rely  on  it.  The  Scriptures, 
as  the  great  magazine  of  truth,  available  for  all  the 
demands  of  life,  will  be  resorted  to  in  serious  medi- 
tation by  every  man  who  is  convinced  that  his  own 
life  and  salvation,  and  the  life  and  salvation  of  mil- 
lions, depend  on  it;  and  he  who  is  little  engaged 
in  close  examination  of  the  Bible,  gives  the  best  evi- 
dence possible  that  he  has  little  practical  belief  in  its 
amazing  power.  It  is  vain,  and  all  but  ludicrous,  for 
any  one  to  avow  his  supreme  reverence  for  the  Scrip- 
tures as  the  means  of  regenerating  society  and  open- 
ing heaven,  when  he  spends  hours  over  the  daily 
journal,  or  the  book  of  gaiety,  for  minutes  bestowed 
on  prophets  and  apostles,  and  the  words  of  Jesus,  the 
Son  of  God.  Let  us  change  our  practice  or  abate 
our  professions ;  let  us  cease  to  applaud  Moses,  Isa- 
iah and  Paul,  unless  we  mean  to  read  them;  for 
while  we  neglect  our  chief  weapon,  we  plainly  tell 


J.    W.    ALEXANDER,    D.   D.  117 

the  world  that  we  have  no  confidence  in  its  virtues. 
If  these  marks  are  of  any  value,  they  show,  my 
brethren,  that  in  a  greater  or  a  less  degree  we  are 
all  guilty  of  ascribing  less  than  is  just  to  the  chosen 
instrument  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  truth  of  revela- 
tion ;  and  if  we  are  conscious  of  the  fault,  we  are 
in  a  good  condition  to  deepen  our  sense  of  its  folly, 
by  contemplating,  in  the  second  place, 

II.  The  operation  of  this  distrust,  in  regard  to 
Christian  activity.  The  activity  here  meant  is 
that  which  concerns  our  enemies,  and  the  enemies 
of  the  Church,  who  are  more  numerous,  and  more  ma- 
lignant, and  more  formidable,  than  all  human  foes ; 
and  though  fellow  mortals  may  be  sometimes  "  God's 
sword,"  and  are  often  the  devil's  hirelings,  you  will 
behold,  if  your  eyes  are  opened,  an  array  yet  more 
fearful,  and  a  battle  yet  more  bloody ;  for  we  wres- 
tle not  as  with  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  princes, 
against  powers,  and  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of 
this  world,  and  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high 
places.  The  odds  would  be  fearful  were  not  He  that 
is  for  us  greater  than  they  that  are  against  us. 
But  divine  aid  in  this  contest,  like  all  divine  aid,  is 
ordered  and  prescribed.  God  has  provided  armour, 
both  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left ;  that  is  to 
say,  both  sword  and  shield — both  offensive  and  de- 
fensive. Every  piece  is  named;  the  inventory  is 
here — helmet,  breastplate,  girdle,  buckler,  and  shoes ; 
but  all  in  vain,  unless  the  warrior  endue  himself  with 
the  harness,  and  utterly  ineffectual  without  the 
weapon  of  attack — the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  This 
we  have  found  reason  to  believfe  has  been,  with 
some,  rusting  in  the  scabbard ;  its  heavenly  temper 


118  DISTRUST   OF    THE   WORD. 

is  disallowed  ;  and  of  this  distrust  the  effect  is  mani- 
fold disability,  weakness,  fear  and  defeat.  Let  us 
more  closely  examine  these  effects. 

1.  Distrust  of  the  Word  of  God,  as  an  instrument, 
indisposes  the  soul  for  spiritual  warfare.  He  who 
doubts  his  bow  will  avoid  the  conflict.  Let  me  not 
be  misunderstood,  as  if  what  I  meant  was  religious 
controversy,  in  its  common  acceptation.  Controversy 
there  is  indeed ;  but  not  the  war  of  words,  or  simple 
battling  for  opinions.  The  war  which  rages  under 
our  banners  is  a  war  for  life  or  death ;  it  began  when 
sin  entered ;  it  will  end  when  sin  is  eternally  ex- 
pelled. In  the  individual  soul,  it  begins  when  grace 
enters ;  it  ends  when  glory  is  made  sure.  It  is  the 
flesh  lusting  against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against 
the  flesh.  The  new  nature,  like  God  its  author,  is 
essentially  the  antagonist  of  sin,  in  its  principle  and 
its  acts.  From  the  soul,  that  is,  from  the  centre  out- 
wards, it  urges  an  influence  of  opposition  which  is 
penetrating,  expulsive,  and  destroying.  It  struggles 
to  bring  all  things  to  its  own  likeness,  and  therefore 
to  annul  all  that  is  unlike  it ;  this  is  the  law  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  which  is  leaven,  and  salt,  and 
light.  While  this  process  goes  on  in  the  individual 
soul,  it  goes  on  also  in  communities.  That  which 
the  seed  of  grace  does  in  one,  the  piety  of  God's  peo- 
ple does  in  many  in  the  world  at  large ;  and  both 
in  one  case  and  in  the  other,  it  is  truth  which  is  the 
instrument.  To  make  it  accomplish  this,  its  office, 
there  is  need  of  constant,  restless  activity.  Let  this 
cease  in  the  soul,  and  sin  gains  ground ;  let  it  cease 
in  the  Church,  and  Christianity  makes  no  progress 
— which  will  account  for  a  number  of  painful  phe- 


J.    W.    ALEXANDER,    D.  D.  119 

nomena,  such  as  backsliding,  the  loss  of  comfort, 
the  decline  of  revivals,  the  decay  of  missionary 
spirit,  the  arrest  of  reformation  work,  in  a  word,  the 
"  turning  back  in  the  day  of  battle."  But  you  per- 
ceive at  once,  that  a  cause  could  scarcely  be  named 
more  certain  to  produce  thjs  result,  than  distrust  of 
the  truth.  Undervalue  the  power  of  this  means, 
and  you  will  be  indisposed  to  war ;  you  will  love 
the  shades  of  carnal  peace ;  you  will  have  a  Chris- 
tianity which  is  tamed  clown  to  servile  acquiescence 
in  all  that  sin  proposes,  and  all  that  the  world  al- 
lows. Distrust  of  the  armour  of  truth  must  needs 
indispose  for  the  spiritual  warfare. 

2.  Distrust  of  the  Word  of  God,  as  an  instrument, 
makes  the  soul  weak  wlien  forced  into  the  struggle. 
He  who  doubts  his  bow  will  fight  feebly.  This  ap- 
plies to  those  who  actually  contend  against  sin  in 
some  degree ;  but  they  contend  at  a  disadvantage. 

It  was  not  the  least  of  the  causes  of  primitive 
success,  that  the  apostles  and  martyrs  confided  in 
the  Gospel  as  an  instrument  of  irresistible  force. 
They  were  not  ashamed  of  it.  It  had  transformed 
them ;  it  could  transform  others.  It  was  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation,  whether  wielded  against  Jew- 
ish prejudice  or  Greek  philosophy.  In  their  hands 
it  destroyed  the  wisdom  of  the  wise,  and  brought  to 
nothing  the  understanding  of  the  prudent.  They 
spoke  in,  words  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth. 
This  was  their  confidence ;  this  made  them  strong 
in  the  battle — good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ.  They 
dealt  no  doubtful  blows ;  they  ran  not  as  uncer- 
tainly ;  they  fought  not  as  one  that  beateth  the  air. 
Even  Paul,  who,  in  presence  among  the  Corinthians, 


120  DISTRUST    OF    THE   "WORD. 

could  say  that  he  was  "base"  among  them,  could 
also  say  of  his  Christian  valour,  "  We  do  not  war 
after  the  flesh,  casting  down  imaginations  and  every 
high  thing  that  exalteth  itself  against  the  know- 
ledge of  God."  Nay,  such  was  his  estimate  of  this 
weaj)on,  that  he  cries,  "  I  count  all  things  but  loss 
for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ." 
And,  my  brethren,  if  you  will  turn  over  all  the 
books  of  church  history,  and  all  your  recollections 
of  good  men,  you  will  not  find  an  individual,  an- 
cient or  modern,  in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it,  remarka- 
ble for  great  success  in  promoting  religion,  who  had 
not,  at  the  same  time,  a  high  confidence  in  the 
truth  of  the  Gospel  to  produce  this  very  result. 

How  different  the  spectacle  in  our  day !  There 
are  enemies  enough  to  fight,  but  we  sit  still;  or 
when  we  contend,  how  feebly  is  it !  Vice  triumphs 
around  us — error  stalks  abroad ;  but  our  blows  are 
scarcely  felt,  because  we  ourselves  think  them  im- 
potent. The  remedy  would  be  for  us  to  acquire 
such  a  holy  admiration  for  the  Bible,  as  the  instru- 
ment of  invasion  and  victory,  as  should  lead  the 
feeblest  woman,  and  the  youngest  Sabbath  school 
teacher,  to  shout,  "  The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of 
Gideon  /"  Then  should  our  success  be  such,  that  the 
church  would  renew  the  exclamation  of  Habakkuk, 
"  Thy  bow  was  made  quite  naked,  according  to  the 
oaths  of  the,  tribes — even  thy  icordT  Hab.  iii.  9. 
How  can  we  shame  and  intimidate  our  foe  when  we 
doubt  our  very  arms  ?' 

3.  Distrust  of  the  Word  of  God,  as  an  instrument, 
tends  to  make  the  soul  retreat  hefore  its  enemies.  He 
who  distrusts  his  bow  will  flee. 


J.    W.    ALEXANDER,    D.  D.  121 

Grant  *that  you  do  not  avoid  conflict ;  grant  that 
you  ply  your  adversary,  the  devil,  with  some  show- 
ers of  arrows;  yet  any  diffidence,  in  regard  to  the 
instrument  you  employ,  will  suggest  cessation  and 
flight.  To  begin  a  battle  is  not  to  conquer.  In  the 
evil  day  you  are  to  stand,  to  war  courageously, 
"and,  having  done  all,  to  stand."  Cowardice  is 
certain,  if  you  feel  no  strength ;  to  doubt  your 
armour  is  to  be  unarmed.  David  went  out  between 
two  lines  of  fierce  array,  holding  up  his  ruddy  coun- 
tenance with  elation,  though  he  carried  only  a 
shepherd's  staff,  a  sling,  and  five  smooth  stones  out 
of  the  brook ;  but  he  was  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in 
the  power  of  his  might.  "  Thou  comest  to  me  with 
a  sword,  and  with  a  spear,  and  with  a  shield;  but  I 
am  come  to  thee  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
whom  thou  hast  defied." 

Our  grand  business  is  to  carry  on  a  warfare  which 
our  predecessors  began.  The  world  is  to  be  subdued, 
and  every  Christian  is  in  the  ranks.  You  know 
your  weapon  of  attack;  you  ought  to  know  its 
power.  But  if,  when  assaulted,  you  have  misgiv- 
ings about  this,  and  if  these  misgivings  continue, 
you  will  faint,  you  will  fly.  Hence,  when  error  has 
come  into  the  church,  and  ministers  and  people 
have  used  the  truth,  as  men  use  a  bow  which  they 
expect  to  break,  or  a  piece  of  ordnance  which  they 
fear  will  burst,  the  result  has  been  according  to  that 
threatening  against  Israel :  "  The  Lord  shall  cause 
thee  to  be  smitten  before  thine  enemies ;  thou  shalt 
go  out  one  way  against  them,  and  flee  seven  ways 
before  them."  Deut.  xxviii.  25.  In  every  engage- 
ment, in  the  heart  or  in  the  world,  doubt  as  to  the 


122  DISTRUST   OF    THE   WORD. 

efficacy  of  tlie  means  will  produce  fearfulness  and 
retreat. 

4.  Distrust,  in  regard  to  God's  truth,  will  be  likely 
to  cause  defeat.  He  who  doubts  his  bow  will  gene- 
rally be  conquered.  I  admit  that,  in  the  great  con- 
cern, namely,  personal  salvation,  every  regenerate 
man  is  safe ;  he  cannot  be  defeated ;  his  redemption 
is  sure ;  but  it  is  because  he  is  in  Christ's  hands ; 
because  no  one  can  pluck  him  thence ;  because  the 
believer  abides  in  him,  John  xv.  6,  and  Christ's 
words  abide  in  the  believer.  It  is  by  the  truth  that 
even  saints  persevere ;  but  even  saints  may  be  re- 
pulsed in  those  lesser  engagements  which  precede 
their  final  conquest.  Israel  may  be  chased  by  the 
Amorites,  and  destroyed  by  them  in  Seir,  Deut. 
i.  44,  though  they  are  eventually  to  cross  Jordan ; 
they  may  be  smitten  before  Ai,  so  that  Joshua  may 
say,  "  0  Lord,  what  shall  I  say  when  Israel  turneth 
their  backs  before  their  enemies  ?"  Josh.  vii.  8, 
though  they  are  eventually  to  possess  the  land. 
Private  Christians  may  lose  the  field,  and,  for  a 
time,  be  subject  to  the  world;  congregations  may 
lose  the  savour  of  divine  things,  and  cease  to  influ- 
ence the  mass  around  them ;  public  enterprises  may 
fail,  by  reason  of  declining  faith,  in  such  as  should 
support  them ;  branches  of  the  visible  church  may 
fall  back  before  their  adversaries,  dwindle,  and  even 
disappear.  All  these  are  temporary  conquests  by 
the  enemy.  Thus  Shiloh,  once  the  seat  of  the  ark, 
became  a  proverb  of  desertion.  Jer.  vii.  12,  14 ; 
1  Sam.  iv.  11;  Psa.  lxxviii.  60.  Wittenberg,  the 
cradle  of  the  Reformation,  is  profaned  by  rational- 
ism ;  Geneva,  where  Calvin  taught,  is  held  by  bap- 


J.    W.    ALEXANDER,    D.  D.  123 

tised  infidels ;  and  Cambridge,  where  the  Puritan 
fathers  rejoiced  in  a  divine  Saviour,  is  the  citadel 
of  Socinianisni.  Distrust  of  the  truth,  failure  to  em- 
ploy it,  substitution  of  something  in  its  place — these 
are  the  causes  of  the  dire  reverse.  And  it  may  be 
that  Protestant  America,  unless  she  take  a  manlier 
hold  on  the  Scriptures,  may  become  the  western 
ally  of  the  Beast,  and  shine  with  the  splendid  jew- 
els, and  crosses,  and  mitres  of  subjugation.  In  a 
word,  if  we  would  have  the  blessings  of  religion  we 
must  prize  its  means;  and  if  we  would  be  victo- 
rious against  sin,  Satan,  worldly  fashion,  error,  infi- 
delity, Popery,  idolatry,  and  vice,  we  must  feel  that 
the  Bible  is  an  instrument,  which,  in  God's  hand, 
shall  bring  them  all  to  destruction.  It  is  the  la- 
mentable want  of  this  persuasion  which  makes  us, 
though  armed,  to  turn  back  in  the  day  of  battle  ; 
and  it  is  the  remedy  for  this  disease  of  the  soul,  to 
which  I  call  your  attention ;  it  is  the  third  and  last 
head  of  my  discourse. 

III.  Before  stating  the  means  of  recovery,  let  us 
look  once  again  at  the  evil,  and  its  opposite  good. 
The  evil  is  distrust  of  God's  word ;  the  opposite  good 
is  a  high  estimate  of  divine  truth  as  the  weapon  of 
our  warfare.  The  question  is,  How  shall  this  just 
valuation  of  the  truth  be  increased  in  us  ?  And  the 
answer  to  this  may  be  comprised  in  a  few  simple, 
but  I  trust  important  particulars. 

1.  It  will  be  our  duty  to  consider  what  this  wea- 
pon has  already  achieved.  This  was  the  method 
taken  by  the  Psalmist  in  the  context.  He  recounts 
the  victories  of  Israel.  It  had  been  their  sin  that 
"they  forgat  God's  works,  and  his  wonders  that  he 


124 


DISTRUST   OF   THE   WORD. 


showed  them."  v.  11.  He  rehearses  these  works 
and  wonders — "  They  believed  not  in  God,  and 
trusted  not  in  his  salvation."  v.  22.  The  Psalm- 
ist goes  over  the  pilgrimage  in  the  desert — "  They 
remembered  not  his  hand,  nor  the  day  when  he  de- 
livered them  from  the  enemy."  v.  42.  The  sacred 
poet  accumulates  the  trophies  of  God's  host ;  in 
like  manner,  my  brethren,  let  us  look  back  at  the 
conquests  of  truth.  Whatever  Christianity  has  done, 
has  been  done  by  the  Word.  This  is  the  weapon 
which,  in  God's  hand,  routed  the  hosts  of  heathen- 
ism, razed  the  ancient  temples,  struck  the  oracles 
dumb,  quenched  the  fire  of  altars,  staunched  the 
flow  of  human  blood,  broke  the  chains  of  slavery, 
raised  the  feebler  sex  to  membership  with  Christ, 
and  fortified  ten  thousand  citadels  with  virtuous 
bulwarks;  and  when  Christianity  had  grown  cor- 
rupt, and  superstition  and  idolatry  threatened  once 
more  to  come  in  like  a  flood,  under  a  Christian  name, 
the  Lord  lifted  up  a  standard  against  them.  It  was 
this  divine  truth  which  effected  the  Reformation  ;  it 
was  this  book  which,  found  in  the  convent  at  Er- 
furt, became  in  the  hands  of  Luther  a  sword  to 
pierce  the  vitals  of  the  Beast ;  it  is  this  instru- 
ment which  forced  a  way  for  our  fathers  into  this 
western  continent,  and  which  their  sons  are  carrying 
to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth ;  it  is  a  consid- 
eration which  may  be  administered  as  a  cordial  to 
the  fainting  Ephraimite. 

2.  Nor  is  it  in  the  past  only  that  we  find  such  en- 
couragement. Consider,  I  pray  you,  what  this  icea- 
pon  is  accomplishing  this  day.  From  a  thousand 
high  places  in  Zion,  in  this  Sabbath  hour,  the  bow 


J.   W.    ALEXANDER,    D.   D.  125 

is  drawn  at  a  venture,  and  the  arrows  of  Messiah 
are  sharp  in  the  hearts  of  the  king's  enemies, 
whereby  the  people  fall  under  him.  God's  people 
are  still  like  Joseph — "the  archers  have  sorely 
grieved  him,  and  shot  at  him,  and  hated  him ;  but 
his  bow  abode  in  strength,  and  the  arms  of  his 
hands  are  still  made  strong  by  the  hands  of  the 
mighty  God  of  Jacob."  Gen.  xlix.  24.  The  Word, 
read  and  heard,  is  awakening  sinners,  comforting 
sufferers,  supporting  the  weak,  confirming  the  strong, 
and  sanctifying  the  imperfect.  While  I  speak,  it  is 
urging  on  to  victory  part  of  the  host,  who  are  this 
moment  struggling  on  the  verge  of  the  river;  and 
from  whose  lips  I  hear  the  voice  of  the  last  battle- 
cry — "  0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0  grave,  where 
is  thy  victory  ?"  Beloved,  let  us  not  distrust  our 
weapons,  until  they  shall  cease  to  do  such  things  as 
these. 

3.  But  this  is  not  all;  the  half  has  not  been  told 
you ;  for  consider  wlxat  this  instrument  is  yet  to  achieve. 
It  is  the  triumphal  song  of  all  the  prophecies.  They 
so  illuminate  the  future,  as  that  it  becomes  to  the 
past  and  present  what  the  noonday  is  to  the  morning- 
watch.  Let  me  reserve  for  other  Sabbaths  the  fuller 
recital  of  what  holy  seers  have  told  us  of  that  latter 
glory ;  enough  for  us  to-day,  that  all  these  glories 
are  the  effects  of  truth.  In  other  words,  the  triumph 
of  Christianity  is  the  triumph  of  faith.  Our  Captain 
of  Salvation  is  leading  us  on  to  a  victory,  of  which 
the  philosophers  of  this  world  have  not  dreamt.  He 
addresses  us,  in  view  of  the  coming  onset,  as  he  ad- 
dressed Joshua  thirty-two  centuries  ago ;  he  so  ad- 
dresses us,  as  if  he  solemnly  put  our  hands  upon  the 


126  DISTRUST   OF   THE   WORD. 

sword  and  on  the  bow — "  This  book  of  tlie  law  shall 
not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  but  thou  shalt  medi- 
tate therein  day  and  night ;  for  then  thou  shalt  make 
thy  way  prosperous,  and  then  thou  shalt  have  good 
success ;  have  not  I  commanded  thee  ?  Be  strong, 
and  of  a  good  courage ;  be  not  afraid,  neither  be  thou 
dismayed,  for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  with  thee,  whi- 
thersoever thou  goest."  Josh.  i.  8,  9. 

We  learn,  then,  to  confide  in  our  weapons,  by  con- 
sidering what  they  have  done,  what  they  are  doing, 
and  what  they  are  yet  to  do. 

4.  Is  it  not  then  a  plain  duty,  for  the  very  end 
proposed,  to  make  ourselves  familiar  ivith  this  blessed 
volume,  in  a  degree  which  we  have  never  yet  known? 
Surely  the  Mohammedan  will  rise  in  judgment  against 
us;  for  he  cleaves  to  his  Koran,  he  studies  it,  he 
passes  days  over  it,  he  commits  it  to  his  memory. 
If  our  Christianity  is  destined,  as  I  hope  it  is,  greatly 
to  revive  in  this  age ;  if  the  Lord's  battle  is  to  be 
fought  with  unexampled  vigour,  it  will  not  be  until 
we  give  new  attention  to  the  scriptures  of  truth. 
Then,  when  this  Bible  takes  its  due  place  in  colleges, 
in  schools,  in  social  circles,  in  families,  in  counting 
rooms,  in  ships  upon  the  sea ;  when  it  is  craved  and 
called  for  by  thousands,  as  in  the  days  of  the  reform- 
ers, we  shall  behold  a  reformation  of  which  that  from 
Popery  was  but  the  type.  Then  shall  heathen  sages, 
if  such  remain,  exclaim  of  the  Church,  as  did  Balaam 
concerning  Israel,  "  The  Lord  his  God  is  with  him,  and 
the  shout  of  a  king  is  among  them  !"  Num.  xxiii.  21. 
Then  shall  heathenism,  and  rationalism,  and  com- 
munism, and  Romanism,  and  alf  the  battalions  of 
errorism,  leave  the  field.  "  One  shall  chase  a  thousand, 


J.    W.    ALEXANDER,   D.   D.  127 

and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight!"  Deut.  xxxii.  30. 
What,  0,  brethren,  is  the  instrument  in  these  certain 
changes  ?  It  is  truth,  before  which  all  that  is  corrupt 
shall  burn,  and  all  that  is  stubborn  shall  be  broken. 
"  Is  not  my  word  like  as  a  fire,  saith  the  Lord,  and 
like  a  hammer  that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces  ?" 
Jer.  xxiii.  29. 

5.  Once  more ;  as  a  remedy  for  distrust,  'place 
yourselves  in  circumstances  in  which  you  will  have  to 
observe  the  energy  of  this  weapon.  This  truth,  whether 
you  are  aware  of  it  or  not,  is  even  now  working  won- 
ders. It  is  healing  hard  hearts ;  it  is  transforming 
lions  to  lambs ;  it  is  pulling  down  strong  holds.  To 
behold  all  this,  be  persuaded,  Christian  professors,  to 
enter  the  ranks  yourselves.  Draw  forth  the  bow ; 
put  the  arrow  upon  your  string;  engage  in  actual 
service ;  leave  the  world  for  a  little  to  whirl  without 
you,  and  venture  out  of  winter  quarters  to  do  some- 
thing for  God.  Even  if  your  own  army  be  asleep, 
steal  forth  and  survey  the  enemy's  camp,  as  did 
Gideon  and  his  servant  Phurah,  and  perhaps  you 
will  have  cause  to  say  with  him,  "  Arise,  for  the  Lord 
hath  delivered  into  your  hand  the  host  of  Midian !" 
Judg.  vii.  15.  Attain  the  mastery  of  your  bow  by 
practice,  and  you  shall  no  longer  turn  your  backs  in 
the  day  of  battle. 

6.  There  is  one  further  suggestion,  and  the  series 
will  have  an  end.  Of  all  means  of  gaining  confi- 
dence in  the  truth,  none  can  be  compared  to  this : 
to  become  personally  experienced  in  its  poiver.  It  can 
wound,  and  it  can  heal.  Open  your  bosom  to  its  ef- 
ficacy. Ye  who  have  meditated  in  the  word,  day 
and  night,  have  no  distrust  of  its  power.     It  has 


128  DISTRUST   OF   THE   WORD. 

made  you  what  you  are ;  it  is  yet  to  make  you 
wiser,  purer,  stronger,  and  happier.  Pray,  without 
ceasing,  that  God  would  fulfil  in  you  "  all  the  good 
pleasure  of  his  goodness,  and  the  work  of  faith  with 
power."  2  Thess.  i.  11.  All  the  conquests  of  reli- 
gion are  so  many  new  steps  of  Christian  experi- 
ence ;  new  exercises  or  new  subjects ;  and  all  ex- 
perience is  by  faith.  Say  continually,  "Lord  increase 
our  faith  /"  This  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the 
world,  even  our  faith.  1  John  v.  4.  Thus  exer- 
cised, you  will  rise  above  all  doubt  as  to  the  armour 
and  the  bow ;  believing,  you  will  wonder  at  your 
foregoing  timidity;  and  when  all  the  church  shall 
thus  deeply  feel  the  energy  of  the  Word,  the  closing 
words  of  this  passage  shall  come  true :  "  Then  Je- 
hovah awaked  as  one  out  of  sleep,  and  like  a  mighty 
man  that  shouteth  by  reason  of  wine.  And  he 
smote  his  enemies  in  their  retreat ;  he  put  them  tc 
a  perpetual  reproach." 


CONSISTENCY  OF  THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT. 

BT 

GEO.   JUNKIN,    D.    D. 

PRESIDENT   OF   -WASHINGTON    COLLEGE,    VIRGINIA. 


For  it  became  Him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by  'whom  are  all 
things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of 
their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings. — Heb.  ii.  10. 

Man  is  a  creature  of  sensation  before  he  is  capa- 
ble of  reasoning  and  moralizing.  His  first  pains  and 
pleasures  are  those  resulting  from  the  exercise  of  his 
merely  animal  senses.  His  ear,  his  eye,  his  taste, 
his  touch,  his  smell,  first  awake  his  soul  to  con- 
sciousness, and  let  in  the  light  of  joy  upon  the 
hitherto  darkened  mind.  After  these  he  is  compe- 
tent to  reason,  and  then  capable  of  moral  sensibili- 
ties. What  period  of  time,  and  what  amount  of 
enjoyment,  are  written  out  in  the  records  of  his 
conscious  felicities,  before  he  experiences  the  higher 
happiness  of  his  rational  and  moral  nature,  it  is  im- 
practicable to  determine.  They  will  vary  according 
to  the  infinitely  varying  characteristics  of  the  physi- 
cal organization  and  of  the  mental  and  moral  struc- 
ture. It  is  obvious,  however,  that  in  all  cases  they  are 
very  considerable.  Infant  humanity  reaps  a  large 
harvest  of  harmless  joys  from  the  wide  fields  of  na- 

10  (  129  ) 


130     CONSISTENCY  OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

ture,  and  habits  of  reliance  upon  these,  as  its  chief 
good,  become  strongly  fixed  at  an  early  period. 
These  habits  are  often  encountered  in  subsequent 
efforts  to  develope  the  higher  faculties  of  the  soul. 
We  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  give  a  reflective 
turn  to  the  current  of  thought ;  to  lead  the  mind 
away  from  the  external  to  the  internal ;  to  divert 
the  affections  from  the  pleasures  of  mere  sense,  to 
the  deeper  flow,  and  more  enduring  satisfaction,  of 
spiritual  contemplations. 

Here  lies  the  philosophy  of  the  general  fact,  that 
within  the  sphere  of  religion,  the  externals,  the  mere 
outward  drapery,  dazzles  the  eye  and  arrests  the  at- 
tention, whilst  the  inner,  spiritual  substance,  passes 
unnoticed.  Children  in  years  and  knowledge  see 
with  the  eye  and  hear  with  the  ear,  while  with  the 
heart  they  understand  not.  Let  religion  put  on  an 
outward  gorgeous  ceremonial ;  let  her  appear  ar- 
rayed in  purple  and  scarlet ;  let  her  head  wear  the 
jewelled  coronet ;  let  her  majestic  service  be  accom- 
panied with  all  the  enchantments  of  choral  and  in- 
strumental harmonies,  and  the  undeveloped  mind 
will  hail  her  with  exquisite  delight ;  but  let  her  ap- 
pear meek  and  lowly,  humble  and  unadorned,  and 
there  is  no  beauty  seen  in  her ;  she  is  as  a  root  out 
of  a  dry  ground,  despised  and  rejected  of  men. 

Thus  the  Church,  in  the  period  of  her  nonage,  was 
attracted  by  the  splendid  and  imposing  ritual  of  the 
Levitical  dispensation.  The  visible  symbols,  the 
gorgeous  embellishments,  the  outward  solemn  pomp 
and  parade,  filled  the  eye  and  the  ear,  and  capti- 
vated the  imagination  of  a  people  not  yet  grown  to 
maturity  in  the  things  of  the  Spirit.     From  this 


GEO.    JUNKIN,    D.   D. 


131 


state  of  necessary  pupilage,  under  tutors  and  gov- 
ernors, the  Church  must,  however,  pass ;  but  the 
transition  will,  of  course,  be  accompanied  with 
strong  emotions  and  a  violent  struggle.  Like  the 
incipient  efforts  of  the  youthful  mind  to  take  in  an 
abstract  thought,  and  to  reflect  upon  its  own  actions, 
the  Israelite  turns  away  with  difficulty  from  the  ven- 
erable and  long  venerated  rites  prescribed  by  Moses, 
to  the  unostentatious  simplicity  of  Gospel  institu- 
tions. David's  Lord,  in  becoming  David's  Son,  has 
laid  aside  the  external  appliances  and  trappings  of 
worldly  grandeur ;  and,  therefore,  to  the  carnal  Jew, 
he  is  what  he  seems  to  be,  and  consequently  is 
treated  with  contempt.  "  Can  any  good  thing  come 
out  of  Nazareth  ?"  This  is  the  stumbling  stone,  this 
the  rock  of  offence  over  which  the  great  body  of  the 
Israelites  fell  and  were  broken.  We  have  Abraham 
to  our  father,  we  had  Moses  as  our  leader,  and 
David  as  our  king  :  the  brazen  altar,  the  golden  can- 
dlestick, the  gilded  tabernacle,  the  glorious  ark  of 
the  testimony,  the  gorgeous  temple,  the  outstretched 
wings  of  the  golden  cherubim,  the  solemn  choirs, 
and  all  the  majesty  of  that  magnificent  service — 
oh,  how  shall  we  abandon  this,  all  this,  for  Him 
who  was  born  in  a  stable,  cradled  in  a  manger, 
crucified  at  Golgotha ! 

Entrenched  behind  these  prejudices  lie  the  great 
body  of  the  Hebrew  people,  Paul's  brethren  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh.  Behind  these  fearful  barriers  had 
the  apostle  himself  lain,  in  all  the  confident  security  of 
individual  and  national  self-righteousness.  There- 
fore did  he  feel  and  fear  for  them ;  and,  therefore, 
against  these  apparently  impregnable  bulwarks  did 


132     CONSISTENCY  OF   THE   DIYINE   GOVERNMENT. 

he  direct  the  first  discharge  of  his  heavenly  artil- 
lery. Well  aware  that,  whilst  these  prejudices  re- 
mained, no  arrow  could  penetrate  the  breast,  he 
opens  up  to  them  at  once  the  true  dignity  of  the 
king  Messiah,  as  found  in  his  personal  character, 
not  in  his  external  decorations.  By  presenting  the 
pre-eminent  grandeur  and  glory  of  the  Son  of  God 
he  aims  to  remove  the  offence  of  the  cross.  This 
he  does  in  the  first  chapter,  where  he  introduces 
him  as  Prophet,  Creator,  and  King,  and  demon- 
strates, by  abundant  testimonies  of  Scripture,  his 
lordship  over  the  universe. 

Now,  if  the  Son  holds  pre-eminence  over  all  in- 
telligent nature,  and  if  all  the  ansrels  of  God  wor- 
ship  him,  how  much  more  should  we  reverence  his 
teachings,  and  bow  to  his  supreme  authority !  And 
if  we  should  neglect  either,  how  can  we  escape  the 
fearful  consequences  ? 

From  this  practical  inference,  the  apostle  passes 
over  to  the  objection  so  naturally  recurring  to  the 
Hebrew  mind  :  If  the  Messiah  stands  thus  pre-emi- 
nent above  all  created  intelligence,  how  came  he  to 
the  degradation  of  the  manger,  the  cross,  and  the 
tomb  ?  How  is  it  possible  to  reconcile  such  contra- 
dictory states  ?  If  he  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  Lord 
of  the  universe,  why  hangs  he  on  a  tree?  If  God 
were  his  Father,  wherefore  did  he  permit  the  pain- 
ful, humiliating,  and  contemptuous  treatment  of  his 
only  begotten  and  well  beloved  ?  Physical  evils 
have  their  root  in  moral  causes ;  could  such  sorrow 
and  anguish,  as  he  endured,  be  without  a  cause  ?  How 
can  such  extremes  be  brought  together  without  im- 
peaching the  love,  the  wisdom,  and  the  justice  of  God? 


GEO.    JUNKIN,   D.    D.  133 

To  this  the  apostle  presents  the  testimony  of  ac- 
knowledged Scripture.  The  eighth  Psalm  is  uni- 
versally allowed  to  refer  to  the  Messiah.  This  the 
Hebrews  maintained,  and  here  is  proof  that  the  Son 
must  be,  for  a  little  time,  lessened  in  comparison  of 
ilw  angels,  in  order  that  he  may  suffer  death  for  every 
child  of  God.  The  humiliation  of  Christ  is  not  a 
bald  fact,  detached  from  his  moral  and  legal  rela- 
tions ;  not  a  mere  arbitrary  freak  in  the  Divine  gov- 
ernment ;  not  an  outburst  of  popular  phrenzy  out- 
side of  the  Divine  economy;  not  a  spontaneity, 
having  neither  antecedent  nor  consequent.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  a  part  of  the  Divine  plan  of  universal 
government;  which  plan  embraces  eternity  and  all 
its  contents,  minute  and  magnificent.  It  is  a  link 
in  the  endless  chain  of  causes  and  effects,  by  which 
Jehovah 

"  Hangs  creation  like  a  precious  gem, 
Though  little,  on  the  footstool  of  his  throne." 

The  mystery  of  the  Word  made  flesh  loses  its  para- 
doxical character  the  moment  its  legal  relations  are 
understood.  Should  it  appear  that,  for  an  adequate 
reason,  the  Lord  of  glory  bowed  the  heavens,  and 
came  down,  and  veiled  his  divinity  in  human  flesh; 
should  ends  be  answered,  by  this  amazing  transac- 
tion, in  the  moral  government  of  the  universe,  meet 
and  worthy  of  the  Governor,  then  our  amazement 
must  cease,  all  that  is  paradoxical  must  pass  away, 
the  harmony  of  the  divine  attributes  be  displayed, 
and  God  stand  justified,  in  all  his  acts,  before  the 
intelligent  universe.  And  this  is  our  position,  "  For 
it  became  him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by  whom 


134     CONSISTENCY   OF    THE    DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to 
make  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through 
sufferings." 

An  act,  or  work,  is  said  to  become  a  person,  when 
it  is  such  as  people  of  good  taste  would  generally 
expect  from  his  known  character  and  condition.  It 
implies  suitableness,  propriety,  and  consistency;  and 
pre-supposes  a  usual  order  of  things.  A  dress  is 
becoming  when  its  texture,  material,  colour,  and 
form,  are  such  as  is  ordinarily  found  on  persons  of 
the  same  rank,  in  such  circumstances.  Gorgeous 
attire  were  unbecoming  at  a  funeral ;  good  works, 
Paul  tells  us,  are  the  modest  apparel  "which  be- 
cometh  women  professing  godliness." 

"  For  whom  are  all  things,"  marks  the  final  cause 
— on  account  of  whom — for  the  manifestation  of 
whose  glory.  "  By  whom  are  all  things ;"  this  covers 
the  work  of  creation  and  government — bv  whom  the 
universe  was  made,  and  by  whom  it  is  sustained,  di- 
rected, and  controlled.  The  phrase,  "  bringing  many 
sons  unto  glory,"  has  reference  to  the  Captain  of 
Salvation,  as  the  object  of  the  action  described  in  the 
expression,  "to  make  perfect  through  sufferings;" 
this  last  means,  to  complete,  to  finish  up — as  on  the 
cross  He  said,  "it  is  finished" — completed,  brought 
to  a  close — all  the  bitter  ingredients  of  the  cup  are 
exhausted. 

"Bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,"  is  delivering 
men  from  degradation,  shame,  and  sin,  and  conduct- 
ing them  to  holiness,  and  happiness,  and  heaven. 
The  term  "  Captain"  is  descriptive,  also,  of  the  work ; 
it  means  a  leader  in  the  way — one  who  goes  before, 
and  directs,  guides,  and  draws  others  onward  in  the 


GEO.    JUNKIN",   D.    D.  135 

same  way.  "  These  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever 
he  goeth." 

The  doctrine  of  our  text  then  is,  that  the  great 
work  of  mans  salvation,  by  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  is 
consistent  with  the  character  of  God,  as  the  Creator, 
Governor,  and  Proprietor  of  the  universe. 

In  the  discussion  of  this  subject  we  must  con- 
sider, 

I.  The  icork  to  be  performed — bringing  many  sons 
unto  glory. 

II.  The  means  of  accomplishing  this  work — the 
sufferings  of  Christ. 

III.  The  consistency  of  these  tivo  combined,  with 
God's  character  as  Creator,  Governor,  and  Proprietor 
of  the  universe. 

I.  The  work — bringing  many  sons  unto  glory. 

They  are  at  a  distance  from  glory.  All  mankind 
are  by  nature  in  a  degraded  and  ruined  condition — 
those  who  are  to  be  brought  unto  glory  equally  with 
others ;  and  a  rescue  from  this  is  implied. 

This  degraded  state  involves  condemnation  under 
the  law ;  and  of  course  the  first  movement  towards 
leading  them  to  heavenly  glory,  is  their  deliverance 
from  condemnation.  Until  such  deliverance  is  ef- 
fected, they  cannot  take  the  first  step  in  the  way  to 
glory.  How  this  can  be  effected  we  shall  see  in  its 
proper  place. 

But  again,  the  state  of  heavenly  glory  is  unattain- 
able except  as  the  reAvard  of  holy  obedience.  Life 
and  eternal  joy  are  positive  blessings,  and  can  be 
conferred  only  in  consequence  of  positive  compliance 
of  the  divine  law — "  if  thou  wilt  have  life,  keep  the 
commandments."     These  two  pre-requisites  regard 


136      CONSISTENCY   OF    THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

the  legal  relations  of  those  who  shall  be  brought 
unto  glory ;  other  parts  of  the  work  regard  their 
moral  qualities. 

The  spiritually  dead  man  cannot  walk  in  the  way 
of  life.  These  sons  must  be  made  alive  before  they 
can  follow  the  Captain  of  their  salvation.  "  Ye  must 
be  born  again."  Renovation  to  spiritual  life  must  take 
place. 

No  unbelieving  and  impenitent  man  can  see  God's 
face  in  peace.  "  He  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall 
not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 
"  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 
True  faith  and  sincere  repentance  belong  to  this 
work. 

The  state  of  glory  is  a  state  of  purity ;  into  it 
nothing  unclean  can  enter.  Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am 
holy.  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord. 
These  sons  must  be  sanctified  before  they  can  enter 
the  gates  of  glory. 

Heaven  is  the  home  of  active  benevolence.  "God 
is  love,  and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love,  dwelleth  in 
God,  and  God  in  him."  But  the  heart  of  man  is 
naturally  at  enmity  against  God ;  it  is  not  subject  to 
the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.  This  work 
involves,  therefore,  the  slaying  of  the  enmity,  and 
the  shedding  abroad,  in  the  heart,  of  this  heavenly 
love. 

The  entire  persons  of  these  sons  are  to  be  brought 
unto  glory ;  not  the  souls  only,  but  also  the  bodies. 
This  work,  then,  includes  the  resurrection  of  the  bo- 
dies, and  their  entire  transformation  into  the  like- 
ness of  his  glorious  body.  "  Beloved,  now  are  we 
the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we 


GEO.    JUNKIN,   D.   D.  137 

shall  be,  but  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear 
we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as 
he  is." 

II.  The  means  of  accomplishing  this  ivork — the 
sufferings  of  the  Captain  of  their  salvation. 

When  the  law  has  pronounced  its  sentence  there  is 
no  evasion  ;  it  must  be  executed.  Justice  is  an  es- 
sential attribute  of  God ;  his  law  can  pronounce  none 
but  a  just  sentence,  and  all  the  holiness  of  his  cha- 
racter is  pledged  to  its  execution.  "  Though  hand 
join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  go  unpunished." 
If  Jesus  has  pledged  himself  to  bring  many  sons  unto 
glory,  he  has  therein  pledged  the  removal  from  them 
of  the  sentence  of  condemnation,  which  can  be  ef- 
fected only  by  enduring  it.  "Die,  he  or  justice 
must."  There  is  no  other  method  of  breaking  the 
yoke  of  bondage,  and  letting  the  captives  sold  under 
sin  go  free.  That  this  method  is  practicable,  the 
Scriptures  abundantly  testify.  In  verse  14,  it  is 
very  explicitly  stated,  as  the  object  of  the  incarna- 
tion, "that  through  death  he  might  destroy  him 
that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil ;  and 
deliver  them  who,  through  fear  of  death,  were  all 
their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage."  So  in  chapter 
ix.  15 — "  That  by  means  of  death,  they  which  are 
called  might  receive  the  promise  of  eternal  inherit- 
ance." "  Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own 
body  on  the  tree,  that  we,  being  dead  to  sins,  should 
live  unto  righteousness ;  by  whose  stripes  ye  were 
healed."  1  Peter  ii.  24.  "  All  we,  like  sheep,  have 
gone  astray  ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own 
way ;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity 
of  us  all."  Isa.  liii.  6.     So  throughout  the  typical  sa- 


138     CONSISTENCY   OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 


crifices  of  the  old  law,  this  is  the  leading  thought — 
the  death  of  Christ,  our  passover,  procures  exemp- 
tion to  us  from  death.  No  language  of  man,  no 
symbol,  no  figure  of  speech,  can  ever  be  devised  to 
express  this  master  idea  more  clearly,  fully,  or  for- 
cibly.. The  sons  who  are  to  be  brought  into  glory 
are  condemned  and  ruined ;  their  leader  in  the  way 
of  life  must  and  does  place  himself  under  their  sen- 
tence, and  meet  the  penal  claims  of  God's  justice. 
For  this  reason  he  must  become  incarnate.  "  Foras- 
much as  the  children  are  partakers  of  flesh  and 
blood"  (of  humanity)  u  he  also  himself  likewise 
took  part  of  the  same." 

This  doctrine  is  not  incidentally  taught,  not  occa- 
sionally to  be  met  with  in  the  Bible,  but- it  is  pre- 
eminently the  doctrine  of  the  book.  It  is  all  pervad- 
ing ;  it  is  the  alpha  and  the  omega.  Take  it  out  of 
the  Bible,  and  it  is  no  longer  the  book  of  God ;  strike 
it  out  of  the  system,  and  the  sun  is  gone — darkness 
reigns.  Annihilate  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  the 
material  universe  is  a  chaos ;  annihilate  the  doctrine 
of  atonement,  and  the  moral  universe  is  a  chaos. 
"  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay." 

But  we  have  seen  many  other  items  in  the  work ; 
many  other  stones  are  necessary  to  the  building  be- 
sides the  foundation ;  therefore,  the  relative  position 
of  this  doctrine  of  atonement  has  much  to  do  in  en- 
hancing its  importance.  The  foundation  stone  in  an 
edifice  may  be  rough,  unsightly,  and  buried  beneath 
the  earth ;  it  may  have  less  labour  bestowed  upon  it 
than  others,  but  in  importance  it  is  inferior  to  none. 
This,  however,  may  not  be  owing  to  its  intrinsic  pro- 
perties, but  to  its  relative  position.     Without  it  the 


GEO.   JUNKIN,    D.    D.  139 

house  cannot  stand ;  all  the  other  stones  must  fall ; 
or  rather,  could  not  rise  into  an  edifice  at  all.  So 
the  atonement  is  indispensable  as  a  pre-requisite  to 
all  the  other  doctrines  of  salvation.  But  for  this, 
the  doctrine  of  justification  through  the  righteous- 
ness, that  is,  the  active  obedience,  of  Christ  imputed 
to  the  sinner,  and  received  by  faith  alone,  must  re- 
main a  cold  and  dead  abstraction.  No  man  can  be 
justified  by  the  perfect  righteousness  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  by  consequence  receive  life  eternal,  whilst 
he  abides  under  condemnation,  and  so  in  death.  He 
cannot  be  both  condemned  and  justified,  dead  and 
alive,  at  the  same  time.  Eternal  life  can  be  given 
as  the  reward  of  obedience  only ;  the  obedience  of 
Christ  in  our  nature.  This,  and  this  alone,  entitles 
the  believer  to  life ;  but  before  he  can  possibly  receive 
and  enjoy  it,  he  must  be  delivered  from  condemna- 
tion imposing  death.  He  must  be  pardoned ;  and  par- 
don, that  is,  the  lifting  up  and  removing  of  his  sen- 
tence of  death  from  him,  can  be  effected  only  by 
Christ's  suffering  under  the  law  for  him.  When 
Christ  takes  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself; 
when  he  unites  the  sinner  to  himself  by  faith,  and 
applies  to  him  the  blood  bought  pardon,  then  the 
merit  of  his  positive  righteousness  becomes  actually 
available ;  the  sinner  puts  on  the  spotless  wedding 
garment,  and  stands  justified  and  complete  in  him. 
This  relative  position  of  the  two  doctrines  of  atone- 
ment, and  of  justification  proper,  is  referred  to  by 
our  apostle,  in  Rom.  iii.  24  :  "Being  justified  freely 
by  his  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus" — the  redemption,  the  releasing,  by  paying 
the  proper  price.  Death  is  the  medium  through  which 


142      CONSISTENCY   OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

bounded  from  the  favoured  race.  As  to  its  consist- 
ency with  God's  benevolent  character,  there  can  be 
no  question.  If  Jehovah  were  all  love,  all  goodness, 
all  benevolence,  we  have  in  this  work  its  counter- 
part. But  he  hath  not  so  revealed  himself  to  us, 
either  in  his  works  or  in  his  word.  Other  attributes 
belong  to  his  nature.  Justice  and  judgment  are  the 
habitation  of  his  throne,  whilst  mercy  and  truth,  gc 
before  him.  His  providence  teaches  the  same  lesson. 
Evils  innumerable  are  visited  upon  men  in  this  world, 
and  a  dread  surmise  springs  up  in  the  mind,  unaided 
even  by  a  revelation,  that  the  present  are  not  all  the 
evils  man  may  possibly  endure  at  the  hand  of  his 
offended  and  insulted  Creator.  But  this  idea  is  no 
longer  vague  and  undetermined  when  we  open  the 
sacred  volume.  Here  it  shines  forth  with  terrible 
clearness;  all  doubt  passes  away;  God  is  holy,  just, 
and  true ;  he  will  punish  crime ;  he  will  vindicate 
the  claims  of  justice. 

Two  views  divide  mankind  on  this  subject.  One 
theory  assumes  as  its  basis,  the  principle  of  infinite 
benevolence  :  God  is  good,  benevolent,  and  merciful. 
This  is  the  controlling  attribute  of  his  nature ;  in- 
deed, they  virtually  deny  him  any  other,  and  say 
there  is  no  such  attribute  as  justice  essential  to  his 
nature ;  it  is  a  contingency  in  the  Creator.  He  may 
exercise  justice,  or  he  may  omit  its  exercise ;  he  may 
punish  crime,  or  he  may  omit  its  punishment.  Vin- 
dictive justice  belongs  not  to  God.  It  is  blasphemy, 
in  the  opinion  of  these  men,  to  represent  God  as 
angry ;  as  a  vindictive  Being,  marking  sins  as  they 
occur,  and  pouring  his  wrath  sooner  or  later  upon 
the  culprit.     This,  in  their  estimation,  makes  him 


GEO.    JUNKIN,    D.    D.  143 

malevolent  and  revengeful.  But  such  philosophers 
have  closed  the  Bible,  and  shut  one  of  reason's  eyes. 
They  forget  that  it  is  written,  "  Though  hand  join  in 
hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  go  unpunished."  "  The 
wages  of  sin  is  death."  "  God  is  angry  with  the 
wicked  every  day."  "  The  Lord  will  not  hold  him 
guiltless  who  taketh  his  name  in  vain."  To  this  class 
of  men,  more  benevolent  than  God,  he  addresses  a 
severe  rebuke — "  Thou  thoughtest  that  I  was  alto- 
gether such  an  one  as  thyself;  but  I  will  reprove 
thee,  and  set  them  in  order  before  thine  eyes.  Now 
consider  this,  ye  that  forget  God,  lest  I  tear  you  in 
pieces,  and  there  be  none  to  deliver." 

They  also  close,  the  eye  of  reason,  and  therefore 
see  not  that  justice  is  as  necessary  an  attribute  in  the 
government  of  God  as  in  that  of  man.  As  man  cannot 
exist  without  justice,  as  society  would  instantly  run 
into  utter  chaos  and  ruin,  so  is  this  glorious  attribute 
indispensable  in  the  Divine  government;  and  God  has 
exhausted  human  language  in  order  to  enforce  a  due 
apprehension  of  this  idea  upon  the  human  under- 
standing. But  still  there  are  multitudes  who  will 
not  believe  it,  even  upon  the  innumerable  testimonies 
written  in  God's  holy  Word.  But  their  unbelief  does 
not  make  the  testimonies  void ;  nor  shall  their  un- 
belief last  for  ever,  for  "the  Lord  trieth  the  righteous, 
but  the  wicked,  and  him  that  loveth  violence,  his 
soul  hateth.  Upon  the  wicked  he  shall  rain  snares, 
fire,  and  brimstone,  and  an  horrible  tempest;  this 
shall  be  the  portion  of  their  cup."  Psa.xi.  5,  6.  "And 
these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,  pre- 
pared for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  Matt.  xxv.  46.41, 
God  is  a  just  God,  and  a  Saviour,     Justice  is  an  at- 


142      CONSISTENCY   OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

bounded  from  the  favoured  race.  As  to  its  consist- 
ency with  God's  benevolent  character,  there  can  be 
no  question.  If  Jehovah  were  all  love,  all  goodness, 
all  benevolence,  we,  have  in  this  work  its  counter- 
part. But  he  hath  not  so  revealed  himself  to  us, 
either  in  his  works  or  in  his  word.  Other  attributes 
belong  to  his  nature.  Justice  and  judgment  are  the 
habitation  of  his  throne,  whilst  mercy  and  truth  gc 
before  him.  His  providence  teaches  the  same  lesson. 
Evils  innumerable  are  visited  upon  men  in  this  world, 
and  a  dread  surmise  springs  up  in  the  mind,  unaided 
even  by  a  revelation,  that  the  present  are  not  all  the 
evils  man  may  possibly  endure  at  the  hand  of  his 
offended  and  insulted  Creator.  But  this  idea  is  no 
longer  vague  and  undetermined  when  we  open  the 
sacred  volume.  Here  it  shines  forth  with  terrible 
clearness ;  all  doubt  passes  away ;  God  is  holy,  just, 
and  true ;  he  will  punish  crime ;  he  will  vindicate 
the  claims  of  justice. 

Two  views  divide  mankind  on  this  subject.  One 
theory  assumes  as  its  basis,  the  principle  of  infinite 
benevolence  :  God  is  good,  benevolent,  and  merciful. 
This  is  the  controlling  attribute  of  his  nature ;  in- 
deed, they  virtually  deny  him  any  other,  and  say 
there  is  no  such  attribute  as  justice  essential  to  his 
nature ;  it  is  a  contingency  in  the  Creator.  He  may 
exercise  justice,  or  he  may  omit  its  exercise ;  he  may 
punish  crime,  or  he  may  omit  its  punishment.  Vin- 
dictive justice  belongs  not  to  God.  It  is  blasphemy, 
in  the  opinion  of  these  men,  to  represent  God  as 
angry ;  as  a  vindictive  Being,  marking  sins  as  they 
occur,  and  pouring  his  wrath  sooner  or  later  upon 
the  culprit.     This,  in  their  estimation,  makes  him 


GEO.    JUNKIN,    D.    D.  143 

malevolent  and  revengeful.  But  such  philosophers 
have  closed  the  Bible,  and  shut  one  of  reason's  eyes. 
They  forget  that  it  is  written,  "  Though  hand  join  in 
hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  go  unpunished."  "  The 
wages  of  sin  is  death."  "  God  is  angry  with  the 
wicked  every  day."  "  The  Lord  will  not  hold  him 
guiltless  who  taketh  his  name  in  vain."  To  this  class 
of  men,  more  benevolent  than  God,  he  addresses  a 
severe  rebuke — "  Thou  thoughtest  that  I  was  alto- 
gether such  an  one  as  thyself;  but  I  will  reprove 
thee,  and  set  them  in  order  before  thine  eyes.  Now 
consider  this,  ye  that  forget  God,  lest  I  tear  you  in 
pieces,  and  there  be  none  to  deliver." 

They  also  close,  the  eye  of  reason,  and  therefore 
see  not  that  justice  is  as  necessary  an  attribute  in  the 
government  of  God  as  in  that  of  man.  As  man  cannot 
exist  without  justice,  as  society  would  instantly  run 
into  utter  chaos  and  ruin,  so  is  this  glorious  attribute 
indispensable  in  the  Divine  government;  and  God  has 
exhausted  human  language  in  order  to  enforce  a  due 
apprehension  of  this  idea  upon  the  human  under- 
standing. But  still  there  are  multitudes  who  will 
not  believe  it,  even  upon  the  innumerable  testimonies 
written  in  God's  holy  Word.  But  their  unbelief  does 
not  make  the  testimonies  void;  nor  shall  their  un- 
belief last  for  ever,  for  "  the  Lord  trieth  the  righteous, 
but  the  wicked,  and  him  that  loveth  violence,  his 
soul  hateth.  Upon  the  wicked  he  shall  rain  snares, 
fire,  and  brimstone,  and  an  horrible  tempest;  this 
shall  be  the  portion  of  their  cup."  Psa.xi.  5,  6.  "And 
these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,  pre- 
pared for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  Matt.  xxv.  46.41, 
God  is  a  just  God,  and  a  Saviour,     Justice  is  an  at- 


144      CONSISTENCY   OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

tribute  essential  to  his  being ;  love  or  goodness  is  so 
also ;  but  mercy,  which  is  the  flowing  forth  of  love 
toward  transgressors,  is  a  contingency.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  the  being  of  God,  that  he  extend  his 
boundless  goodness  to  any  particular  class  of  sinful 
beings,  or  to  all  sinners.  But  if  he  in  sovereignty  do 
so  extend  it,  his  justice  must  be  satisfied;  its  claims 
must  be  met.  The  question  before  us  is  not,  whether 
the  salvation  of  men  is  consistent  with  the  Divine 
character ;  on  this  there  is  no  dispute ;  but  whether 
the  accomplishment  of  this  work,  by  the  sufferings 
of  Christ,  be  consistent.  Does  the  exposure  of  the 
only  Beloved  to  shame,  and  ignominy,  and  death, 
comport  with  the  dignity  of  the  supreme  Governor  ? 
Assuming  the  scriptural  facts,  that  God  did  send  his 
Son  into  the  world,  expressly  that  he  might  obey  and 
die  under  the  curse  of  the  law  for  lost  men ;  that  God 
did  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Captain  of  Salvation 
the  bitter  cup  of  Divine  wrath,  and  when  he  cried 
and  prayed  that  it  might  pass,  if  possible,  the  Father 
did  not  remove  it ;  that  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise 
him ;  to  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin — this  un- 
deniable scripture  doctrine,  this  suffering  of  Jesus, 
by  express  appointment  of  God  the  Father,  is  this 
consistent  ?  Can  it  be  reconciled  with  his  character 
as  Creator,  Governor,  Proprietor  of  all  things  ?  The 
affirmation  is  Paul's  assertion,  and  the  proof  now  de- 
mands our  attention. 

1.  It  became  him  as  Creator.  The  character  of 
the  maker  is  seen  in  the  thing  made.  As  long  as 
men  reason  from  cause  to  effect;  as  long  as  like 
causes  produce  like  effects,  will  they  judge  of  the 
tree  by  its  fruits.    It  is  on  this  principle  that  history 


GEO.    JUNKIN,    D.    D.  145 

teaches.  From  a  man's  actions  we  infer  his  cha- 
racter. This,  too,  is  the  productive  principle  of  all 
the  inductive  sciences.  We  note  things  as  they  ap- 
pear, classify  them,  and  infer  the  laws  of  nature 
from  her  works.  This  standard  of  judgment  is  safe; 
and,  therefore,  it  is  universally  relied  on.  Our  busi- 
ness, then,  is  to  view  the  work  of  salvation  in  the 
method  here  contemplated,  and  then  to  inquire 
whether  the  attributes,  or  powers,  or  qualities  dis- 
played therein,  are  such  as  become  the  Creator,  God. 
And  we  see,  first,  the  highest  manifestation  of  jus- 
tice :  he  would  not  spare  even  his  own  Son. 

Again,  truth  shines  forth  in  connection  with 
justice,  as  it  is  a  fulfilment  of  the  Divine  declara- 
tion, that  sin  should  be  punished. 

And,  again,  love  is  conspicuous  :  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  to  die 
for  the  lost. 

Again,  mercy  to  rebels,  a  modification  of  love,  is 
pre-eminent.  Here  we  have  such  an  exhibition  of 
Divine  perfections  as  cannot  be  found  in  any  other 
work  of  the  Creator.  We  merely  name  them  now, 
as  in  a  moment  they  will  come  up  in  another 
relation. 

2dly.  Under  the  administration  of  a  perfect  govern- 
ment, suffering  bespeaks  previous  wrong-doing. 
Painful  endurance  must  have  its  origin  in  trans- 
gression of  law.  No  moral  being  can  be  made  to 
endure  physical  calamity,  but  in  consequence  of 
moral  evil.  This  truth  is  assumed  as  an  element  in 
morals.  All  men  acknowledge  it — feel  it,  as  it  were, 
and  instantly,  upon  seeing  a  person  suffer  peculiar 
calamity,  begin  to  seek  for  its  moral  cause.  "  Who 
11 


146     CONSISTENCY   OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

did  sin,  this  man  or  his  parents  ?"  "  No  doubt  this 
man  is  a  murderer,  whom,  though  he  hath  escaped 
the  sea,  yet  vengeance  (justice)  suffereth  not  to  live." 
The  only  error,  in  reasoning  here,  is  the  not  keeping 
in  mind  the  sin  of  nature ;  original  sin,  as  the  gene- 
ral cause  of  all  calamity,  and  in  supposing  that  God's 
government,  like  man's,  was  always  specific,  and 
every  particular  calamity  was  a  precise  infliction  for 
some  particular  sin.  But  the  general  idea  is  the 
same,  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  moral  gov- 
ernment. "  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die ;" 
"the  wages  of  sin  is  death;"  "sin  shall  not  go 
unpunished." 

Sufferings  do  fall  sometimes  upon  persons  who 
have  not  themselves,  individually,  transgressed  the 
law.  God,  in  his  providence,  does  visit  the  iniqui- 
ties of  fathers  upon  their  children.  Did  not  Israel 
groan  under  calamities  unutterable,  for  the  sin  of 
David  in  numbering  the  tribes  ?  Is  it  any  thing 
new  for  the  fearful  scourge  of  war  to  fall  upon  a 
whole  people  for  the  sins  of  their  rulers  ?  Have 
not  thousands  of  millions  of  widowed  mothers  and 
fatherless  children,  been  crushed  under  calamities 
too  dreadful  to  endure,  to  gratify  the  pride  of  kings, 
and  maintain  the  figment  of  their  blood-stained 
honour  ? 

But  all  these  cases  involve  the  fact  of  some  pre- 
existent  relation ;  some  connection  between  the  par- 
ties affected,  in  consequence  of  which  the  calamities 
were  brought  about.  In  many  cases  we  are  unable 
to  understand  the  reasons  of  the  connection,  and 
perceive  how  the  results  necessarily  follow.  But 
this,  by  no  means,  disproves  such  connection  as  jus- 


GEO.    JUNKIN,    D.  D.  147 

tifi.es  the  Divine  government.  Human  ignorance  is 
not  an  adequate  condemnation  of  Divine  justice.  It 
may  be  right  that  the  children  suffer  in  consequence 
of  the  father's  crimes,  though  we  may  not  be  able  to 
explain  it.  Yea,  we  must  admit  it,  or  charge  God 
foolishly,  which  is  to  turn  atheist.  When  the 
Psalmist  saw  the  wicked  prospering,  he  could  not 
reason  out  the  case,  and  was  tempted  to  deny  God's 
just  administration,  until  he  went  to  the  sanctuary, 
and  learned  from  revelation  the  doctrine  of  a  future 
judgment.  So  must  we  admit  the  facts  of  provi- 
dence, and  fall  back  upon  the  revealed  explanation, 
that  he  does  visit  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children,  of  the  rulers  upon  the  people. 

Now,  whilst  we  maintain  the  personal,  spotless 
purity  of  the  divine  Redeemer,  we  must  find  some 
way  to  account  for  the  fact  of  his  sufferings,  without 
charging  the  universal  Governor  foolishly.  There 
must  be  a  reason  for  his  laying  upon  him  the  iniqui- 
ties of  us  all.  Such  connection  between  Christ  and 
his  people  does  exist,  as  renders  it  right  and  proper, 
and  every  way  befitting  the  attributes  of  the  Divine 
character,  to  visit  the  Captain  of  Salvation  with 
the  perfection  of  sufferings.  All  the  difficulties  of 
the  case  vanish  before  the  light  of  the  glorious 
truth,  that  God,  in  eternity,  appointed  the  Son  as  a 
covenant  head  of  his  people ;  a  surety  who  volunta- 
rily guaranteed  their  deliverance  from  death  and 
introduction  to  eternal  glory,  by  meeting  all  the 
requirements  of  law  on  their  account.  The  Scrip- 
tures accordingly  assure  us,  that  believers  were 
chosen  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world ; 
that  he  became  the  surety  of  a  better  testament; 


148     CONSISTENCY   OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

that  he  freely  offered  himself  as  the  head  of  his 
body,  the  Church.  "  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will ;  0 
God  I  take  delight."  Now  it  is  this  covenant  rela- 
tionship, voluntarily  entered  into  by  the  glorious 
Mediator,  which  constitutes  the  just  reason  why  the 
Father  laid  on  him  the  sins  of  a  ruined  world,  and 
why,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  he  endured  the  unut- 
terable anguish  of  the  curse  for  crimes  that  we  had 
done.  These  countless  heavy  woes  fell  on  him,  as 
the  necessary  and  legal  consequences  of  his  surety- 
ship. 

Here  we  have  the  principle,  and  the  only  princi- 
ple, by  which  we  can  "justify  the  ways  of  God  to 
men."  This  covenant  of  grace,  which  no  created 
intellect  could  have  devised,  which  no  human  wis- 
dom could  have  discovered,  which  could  originate 
only  in  the  bosom  of  everlasting  love,  and  find  its 
way  to  created  minds  only  by  supernatural  revela- 
tion— this  everlasting  covenant,  ordered  in  all 
things  and  sure — this  alone  solves  the  mystery,  and 
makes  known  how  God  can  be  just,  and  yet  the  jus- 
tifier  of  the  sinner  that  believes  in  Jesus.  On  the 
cross  of  Calvary  justice  and  mercy  meet  together, 
righteousness  and  peace,  the  righteousness  of  God 
and  the  peace  of  man,  embrace  each  other.  When 
Jesus  said,  "  It  is  finished,"  the  sword  of  God's  jus- 
tice was  bathed  in  heaven ;  the  command,  "  Awake, 
0  sword,  against  my  Shepherd,"  was  fulfilled,  and 
yet  no  injustice  is  done.  This  blow  is  no  injury  to 
the  Shepherd,  although  he  himself  had  personally 
done  no  evil,  but  always  felt  and  acted  out  the  prin- 
ciple, "  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent 
me,  and  to  finish  his  work."     Still,  "  it  pleased  the 


GEO.   JUNKIN,   D.  D. 


149 


Lord  to  bruise  him."  How  can  this  be  ?  Because 
Jesus,  "  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body 
on  the  tree."  Now  the  position  before  us  is,  that 
this  smiting  and  its  effects,  under  these  circumstan- 
ces, are  becoming  in  God,  the  universal  Governor,  for 
whom,  and  on  whose  account,  all  things  were  made. 

That  its  effects  are  so,  is  manifest  on  its  face,  for 
the  perfection  of  government  consists  in  promoting 
the  greatest  good,  and  preventing  the  greatest  evil ; 
that  is,  in  the  perfect  administration  of  justice.  But 
this  work  of  saving  men  secures  to  them  the  highest 
happiness,  and  for  the  longest  duration,  even  for 
ever  and  ever. 

Nor  let  it  be  objected,  that  he  does  not  save  all ; 
some  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,  for  we 
have  no  question  as  to  what  he  did  not  do;  our 
question  is  whether  the  thing  he  did  be  consistent 
with  good  and  wise  government.  And  this  we  af- 
firm with  confidence.  In  saving  men  by  blood  no 
injustice  is  done  to  them,  nor  even  to  those  whom 
he  does  not  bring  unto  glory;  they  receive  nothing  at 
his  hand  against  which  they  can  complain;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  infinite  blessings  which  they  personally 
have  not  merited.  Let  it  not  be  objected,  again,  in 
reference  to  this  last,  that  giving  what  a  man  is  not 
entitled  to  is  not  justice,  any  more  than  withholding 
what  he  is  entitled  to.  This  is  true,  but  it  is  not  in- 
justice. It  is  not  a  matter  against  which  complaint 
can  lie  as  a  wrong  thing ;  no,  not  even  from  a  third 
party,  to  whom  similar  benevolence  is  not  extended. 
"  Is  thine  eye  evil,  because  I  am  good  ?  may  not  I 
do  what  I  will  with  mine  own  ?"  is  the  most  rea- 
sonable reply  of  the  Master  to  such  objection. 


150     CONSISTENCY   OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

Besides,  the  benevolence  displayed  in  this  salvation, 
does  not,  properly  speaking,  spring  from  govern- 
mental power,  but  from  sovereign  love.  Pardon  is 
not  an  act  of  governing  power,  but  of  sovereignty 
and  benevolence. 

The  greatest  evils  are  also  prevented.  Sons 
brought  unto  glory  sin  no  more.  Their  deliverance 
from  physical  is  not  more  perfect  than  from  moral 
evil,  and  both  are  perpetual  and  eternal. 

So  the  smiting  of  the  Shepherd,  under  the  circum- 
stances, is  proper;  for  the  Shepherd  stands,  in  the  eye 
of  the  law,  as  the  head  of  his  body,  the  church — the 
sons  brought  into  glory.  He  became  their  surety, 
and,  by  necessary  consequence,  their  failure  devolves 
upon  him  the  whole  legal  responsibilities  of  their 
guarantee.  From  these  he  could  not  shrink.  Jus- 
tice demanded  of  him  what  she  had  a  right  to  exact 
from  his  people.  The  law  rightly  held  them  respon- 
sible to  death,  and  it  rightly  exacted  death  from 
him ;  so,  conversely,  he  having  met  the  rightful  re- 
quisition, having  died  the  death,  has  a  rightful 
claim  for  their  exemption  from  death. 

This  transaction  is  equally  consistent  and  becom- 
ing the  universal  Proprietor,  for  whom  are  all 
things. 

The  final  cause  of  the  universe,  is  the  glory  of  its 
Creator — "  for  thy  pleasure  they  are  and  were  cre- 
ated." li  The  chief  end  of  man  is  to  glorify  God,  and  to 
enjoy  him  for  ever."  This  being  undeniable,  the  ma- 
nifestation of  mercy,  heaven's  darling  attribute,  pro- 
motes this  end  in  a  very  high  degree ;  yea,  "  glory 
to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will 
to  men."     There  is  no  higher  attribute  of  Jehovah 


GEO.   JUNKIN,    D.  D.  151 

than  his  love,  none  holier  than  his  justice ;  there  are 
no  two  that  to  created  reason  seem  more  at  va- 
riance. Man  sins ;  the  trembling  culprit  stands  self- 
condemned,  heaven-condemned,  before  his  Judge ; 
the  arm  of  Almighty  justice  is  raised ;  the  terrible 
blow  that  must  smite  the  wretched  sinner  down  to 
an  everlasting  hell  is  just  ready  to  descend :  when 
lo  !  Love,  divine  love  springs  forward — "  Father  Al- 
mighty, forbear !  On  me  let  the  stroke  of  thy  ven- 
geance fall :  smite  the  Shepherd  !"  The  fiery  blade 
is  seized,  and  its  burning  point  turned  in  upon  the 
bosom  of  the  innocent  victim.  Love  bleeds — the  lan- 
guid head  droops :  "  It  is  finished" — the  agony  is 
over — the  curse  exhausted.  Mercy  rises  from  the 
tomb,  a  lovely  form,  a  new  attribute,  heretofore  un- 
known in  the  universe  of  God.  Angelic  messengers, 
now  for  the  first  time  beholding  in  its  fulness  the  glory 
of  their  God,  escort  the  heaven-generated,  but  earth- 
born  stranger  to  the  realms  of  day.  The  song  of  sal- 
vation swells  from  myriads  of  golden  harps,  and  all 
heaven  is  filled  with  the  echo  of  the  beloved  name. 

In  conclusion,  let  us  glance  at  the  bearings  of  this 
stupendous  fact  in  the  Divine  government  upon  the 
destinies  of  the  moral  universe. 

It  is  the  act  confirmatory.  The  nail  that  fastened 
Christ  to  the  cross,  gave  the  rivet  of  unchangeability 
to  government  throughout  all  its  departments,  human 
and  divine. 

It  is  confirmatory,  in  that  it  exhibits  to  all  the 
intelligent  creation,  the  highest  evidence  it  has  ever 
had,  perhaps  the  highest  it  can  have,  of  the  immu- 
tability of  Divine  justice,  and  so  of  the  stability 
of  the  moral  system.     The  government  of  God  is 


152     CONSISTENCY  OF   THE  DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

not,  as  man's  too  often  is,  one  of  mere  expediency ; 
it  is  based  on  fixed  and  unalterable  principles,  and 
will  remain  the  same  for  ever.  Here  and  now,  if 
ever,  justice  must  relax.  Had  it  been  possible,  this 
cup  would  have  passed  from  the  Saviour's  lips  with- 
out his  drinking  it :  for  never  was  such  an  appeal 
made  by  intelligent  nature  under  suffering — "  Oh  my 
Father  !  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me." 
It  did  not  pass;  thereby  giving  confirmation,  full 
and  perfect,  to  the  unchangeableness  of  justice. 

We  may  therefore  expect  that  human  govern- 
ments will  be  stable,  regular,  fixed,  and  efficient,  in 
proportion  to  the  people's  knowledge  and  practice 
upon  the  great  doctrine  of  atonement — of  salvation 
by  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  To  this  facts  corre- 
spond. In  what  countries  do  we  find  the  best  govern- 
ments, the  most  justice,  the  freest,  and  the  purest, 
and  the  happiest  people  ?  What  says  history  ?  What 
is  the  testimony  of  the  present  ?  One  voice  comes 
down  to  us  through  the  long  line  of  ages ;  one  voice 
rises  up  from  the  world's  whole  surface — that  voice 
directs  us  to  Calvary.  Where  the  doctrines  of  Christ 
and  him  crucified  are  most  known,  there  are  to  be 
found  the  freest,  and  happiest,  and  best  governed 
nations.  "  These  have  washed  their  robes  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Therefore 
are  they  before  the  throne  of  God,  and  serve  him 
day  and  night  in  his  temple."  How  deep  then  the 
debt,  and  how  solemn  the  obligation,  of  all  free  na- 
tions, to  the  true  evangelical  church  of  God !  How 
happy  the  people  who  wear  the  yoke  of  Christ ! 

This  confirmation  extends  to  the  lost  portion  of 
our  sinful  race,  who  go  away  into  everlasting  fire. 


GEO.   JUNKIN",   D.    D.  153 

That  justice  unchangeable,  which  upholds  the  Di- 
vine throne,  falls  as  a  crushing  weight  upon  all  who 
aim  at  tearing  down  this  throne,  and  grinds  them  to 
powder.  They  are  sealed  up  in  endless  death ;  but 
the  sufferings  of  Christ  do  not  produce  this.  Will 
the  justice,  which  yielded  not  even  to  his  strong 
crying  and  tears,  relax,  in  order  to  let  go  the  rebel 
who,  to  all  the  sins  of  his  life  and  nature,  adds  the 
crowning  one  of  unbelief?  Shall  lie  escape  who 
tramples  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  puts  him  to 
an  open  shame,  accounting  his  precious  blood  an  un- 
holy thing  ?  Shall  not  double  vengeance  fall  upon 
his  soul  ?  He  puts  away  from  himself,  by  a  wilful 
and  deliberate  resistance,  the  only  salvation  which 
infinite  love  ever  provided ;  how  then  can  he  be 
saved  ?  He  seals  his  own  condemnation,  and  justice 
confirms  the  deed  for  ever. 

Still  more  obvious  is  the  confirmation  of  God's  re- 
deemed in  the  joys  of  eternal  salvation.  Perish  they 
cannot,  for  justice  immutable  has  no  claim  against 
them,  and  has  proclaimed  the  fact  in  raising  Jesus 
from  the  dead;  and  trumpet  tongues  of  thousands 
of  angels  have  heralded  the  glad  tidings  throughout 
the  universe.  His  blood  has  washed  away  the  guilt 
of  all  their  sins,  and  procured  a  full  pardon.  His 
sufferings  procured  him  admission  to  his  throne  of 
glory  in  the  heavens,  sent  the  Holy  Spirit  down, 
created  their  hearts  anew,  sanctified  their  entire  soul 
and  body,  arrayed  them  in  his  own  glorious  righte- 
ousness, and  filled  all  their  soul  with  heavenly 
love.  Thus  redeemed,  regenerated,  justified,  and 
sanctified,  how  can  they  be  kept  from  glory? — 
Where  is  the  power  to  reverse  the  sentence  passed 


154      CONSISTENCY   OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

upon  them,  and  turn  them  back  to  perdition  ? 
"  Who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's 
elect  ?  It  is  God  that  justifieth.  Who  is  he  that  con- 
demneth  ?  It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea  rather,  that 
is  risen  again."  "  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  Christ?" 

To  fallen  angels,  the  sufferings  of  Christ  in  the 
room  of  his  people  afford  fearful  evidence  of  the 
hopelessness  of  their  case.  If  God  spared  not  his 
own  Son,  if  justice  could  not  relax  to  save  him, 
how  shall  it  abate  its  demands  to  save  them?  This 
may  account  for  the  deep  interest  Satan  and  his  de- 
mons felt  in  Christ's  mission  and  work;  their  eager- 
ness to  know  whether  this  Jesus  was  the  Messiah, 
and  whether  he  could  be  diverted  from  his  purpose 
to  satisfy  justice,  by  his  death;  and  for  all  their  ma- 
chinations to  thwart  his  plans  for  leading  his  sons  to 
glory. 

Is  Jesus  a  confirming  head  of  moral  influences  to 
the  holy  angels  and  the  entire  universe  ?  By  con- 
firming head  is,  of  course,  meant,  not  that  he  re- 
deemed angels,  but  that  his  sufferings  stood  in  such 
relations  to  the  Divine  government,  and  to  them 
under  it,  as  to  put  an  end  to  their  probation,  and 
place  them  beyond  the  possibility  for  ever  of  falling, 
as  Diabolus  and  the  demons  fell.  Until  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  the  conception  is,  that  the  holy 
angels  were  in  a  probationary  or  trial  state,  liable 
individually  to  sin,  as  Satan  did,  as  Adam  did,  and 
perish  under  God's  wrath.  But  after  he  had  finished 
his  work,  and  ascended  to  glory,  that  state  ceased, 
and  the  Divine  power  and  protection  henceforth 
secures  them  for  ever,  as  it  does  the  saints  redeemed; 


GEO.    JUNKTN",    D.   D.  155 

so  that  they  can  go  no  more  out,  and  are  subject  no 
more  to  the  dread  possibility  of  sinning,  but  rest  in 
the  ineffable  felicity  of  a  full  assurance  of  life 
eternal. 

To  the  affirmative  of  this  question  my  mind 
strongly  preponderates,  and  for  the  folllowing  rea- 
sons : 

The  language  of  the  text  seems  to  imply  it.  "  It 
became  Him  for  whom  are  all  things."  In  this 
precise  relation,  as  universal  Proprietor  and  Gover- 
nor, there  was  a  suitableness  and  propriety  in  put- 
ting the  cup  into  his  hands,.  But  where  is  the 
ground  of  this  propriety,  if  the  other  parts  of  the 
universe  are  uninfluenced  by  it  ?  How  could  they 
be  uninterested  in  the  glory  of  their  Governor  ?  But 
if  they  are  to  be  both  influenced  and  interested,  it  is 
difficult  to  see  any  other  way,  than  that  this  glorious 
transaction  confirms  the  Divine  government  and 
them  in  the  blessedness  of  its  protection. 

Again,  this  idea  corresponds  with  the  interest  felt 
by  the  holy  angels  in  the  concerns  of  Christ  and  his 
Church.  "  Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent 
forth  to  minister  unto  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of 
salvation  ?"  Do  not  they  watch  over  the  camp  of 
Israel  for  good,  and  combat  the  legions  of  hell? 
Did  not  they  herald  the  advent  of  their  Lord  Crea- 
tor as  our  Lord  Redeemer  ?  Did  they  not  guard  his 
steps  from  the  manger  to  the  cross  ?  Did  they  not 
cluster  in  embattled  phalanx  there,  marking  with 
intensest  interest  the  agony  in  which  he  died  ?  Did 
they  not,  on  wings  of  light,  bear  the  glad  tidings  of 
his  resurrection  to  the  regions  of  immortal  day? 
Did  they  not  now,  and  for  the  first  time,  learn  from 


156      CONSISTENCY   OF   THE   DIVINE   GOVERNMENT. 

the  Church  helow  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God,  and 
understand  those  things  into  which  they  had  long 
desired  to  look  ?  Let  it,  then,  be  supposed  that 
these  heavenly  hosts  were,  till  this  hour,  on  proba- 
tion, and  not  assured  that  Satan  might  not  yet  pre- 
vail, and  they  fall  and  perish ;  but  that  now  confir- 
mation came,  and  their  destiny  is  for  ever  safe.  Oh  ! 
what  a  moment  of  joy  to  them  !  With  what  glad 
emotions  they  hail  the  rising  of  the  Sun  of  Righte- 
ousness !  The  mystery  of  redemption  is  unveiled, 
and  the  mystery  of  confirmation  thrills  through  the 
boundless  universe ! 

My  third  reason  for  favouring  this  idea,  is  found  in 
its  own  magnificence.  It  seems  to  me  the  brightest 
ray  which  shines  from  this  Sun  of  Righteousness.  It 
enhances  the  riches  of  his  mercy,  and  magnifies  the 
glory  of  his  cross.  "  Our  earth's  acelclama — this 
field  of  blood" — becomes  the  battle-ground  on  which 
is  decided  the  fate  of  the  universe.  The  groans  of 
Gethsemane,  and  the  agonies  of  the  cross,  establish 
the  throne  of  Jehovah  Jesus,  and  put  into  his  nail- 
pierced  hand  the  sceptre  of  dominion  over  the  entire 
realm  of  nature,  and  all  the  creatures  of  God  wor- 
ship him.  Surely  "  it  became  Him,  for  whom  are 
all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing 
many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of  their 
salvation  perfect  through  sufferings." 


EFFICIENCY  OF  CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLE. 


THOS.  SMYTH,  D.  D. 

PASTOR    OF   THE  SECOND   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,  CHARLESTON,  S.    C. 


Neither  yield  ye  your  members  as  instruments  of  unrighteousness 
unto  sin :  but  yield  yourselves  unto  God,  as  those  that  are  alive 
from  the  dead,  and  your  members  as  instruments  of  righteousness 
unto  God.  For  sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you :  for  ye  are 
not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace. — Romans  vi.  13,  14. 

The  first  thing  which  demands  our  attention,  in 
unfolding  the  meaning  of  this  passage  of  the  Word 
of  God,  (which  is  so  pregnant  with  meaning  that  we 
must  pass  by  any  introductory  observations,)  is  the 
duty  which  is  here  laid  down  as  binding  upon  all 
men.  This  duty,  to  which  we  are  all  summoned 
by  the  authority  of  this  inspired  and  divinely  com- 
missioned ambassador  from  the  courts  of  heaven, 
is  expressed  both  affirmatively  and  negatively.  We 
are  admonished  what  that  is  which  we  are  required 
to  do,  and  also  what  that  is  from  which  we  should 
abstain. 

It  is  commanded  that  we  shall  not  yield  our  mem- 
bers as  instruments  of  unrighteousness  unto  sin. 
The  word  translated  "  yield,"  means  to  give  up  to 
the  use  and  control  of  another.  "  Your  members, " 
include  not  only  the  organs  of  the  body,  but  also  the 
powers,  faculties,  and  capacities  of  the  mind,  and  is 

(157) 


158  EFFICIENCY   OF   CHRISTIAN   PRINCIPLE. 

used  as  a  periphrasis  for  yourselves,  that  is,  the  whole 
man.  as  composed  of  a  living  body  and  a  reasonable 
soul.  These  members  we  are  not  to  yield  as  instru- 
ments unto  sin.  Sin  is  here  personified  as  a  mon- 
arch, ruler,  or  guide,  and  we  are  forbidden  to  allow 
to  sin,  in  any  of  these  capacities,  the  use  or  control 
of  our  mental  or  physical  powers.  When  so  em- 
ployed, they  are  perverted,  abused  to  a  purpose  con- 
trary to  their  original  design,  and  alienated  from  that 
service  wherein  they  ought  to  be  employed.  If  they 
are  so  devoted,  voluntarily,  and  by  our  own  choice, 
we  are  guilty  of  robbery,  treachery,  unfaithfulness, 
and  disobedience,  since  we  are  stewards  of  these 
heavenly  gifts,  and  responsible  for  their  proper  and 
intended  use  to  the  righteous  Judge  of  all.  Thus 
to  yield  them,  therefore,  as  servants  to  sin,  is  a 
crime  of  inexcusable  turpitude,  for  which  we  shall 
be  held  justly  responsible  at  the  bar  of  heaven.  On 
the  other  hand,  does  sin  lay  siege  to  our  hearts,  and 
by  the  open  assaults  and  fiery  darts  of  grievous 
temptations,  or  by  the  secret  wiles  of  more  insinu- 
ating artifices,  seek  to  gain  possession  of  our  cita- 
del, and  reduce  us  to  a  state  of  subjection  and  of 
vassalage  ?  then  are  we  to  regard  him  as  an  usurper 
and  a  rebel,  as  without  any  right  or  title  to  such 
authority,  and  as  one  to  whom  on  no  conditions,  and 
under  no  possible  extremity,  are  we  permitted  to  ren- 
der our  obeisance.  Whatsoever  may  be  the  seve- 
rity of  his  threatenings ;  whatsoever  the  strength 
and  power  with  which  he  storms  our  hearts,  and  to 
whatever  straits  we  may  be  brought  by  his  long  pro- 
tracted warfare,  yet  at  the  peril  of  our  soul's  salva- 
tion let  us  not  yield  unto  him.     He  that  so  yields 


THOS.    SMYTH,   D.    D.  159 

becomes  the  servant  of  sin,  the  captive  of  Satan,  and 
the  enemy  of  God. 

It  is  our  duty,  therefore,  as  subjects  of  the  moral 
government  of  God ;  as  having  been  created,  pre- 
served, and  redeemed  by  him,  and  as  being  under 
his  absolute  control,  to  "yield  ourselves  unto  God" 
— that  is,  to  give  ourselves  up  to  his  service  and 
control.  "And  yield  your  members  as  instruments 
of  righteousness  unto  God;"  that  is,  yield  yourselves 
in  all  your  powers  and  faculties,  whether  of  mind 
or  of  body,  that  they  may  be  employed  in  God's  ser- 
vice, and  to  his  honour  and  glory.  Now  it  is  here 
evidently  implied,  as  it  is  throughout  the  whole  Word 
of  God,  that  men  are  at  present  in  such  a  lapsed  and 
ruined  condition  as  to  be  alienated  from  the  service 
and  love  of  God,  and  enthralled  by  the  love  and  do- 
minion of  sin.  Such  is  the  disposition  of  mankind 
universally,  that  they  listen  with  a  ready  ear  to  the 
voice  of  the  tempter,  and  are  incredulous  to  the  fore- 
warning of  Jehovah.  They  bow  willingly  to  the 
yoke  of  sin  and  Satan,  hard  and  ignominious  though 
it  be,  and  they  openly  and  blasphemously  declare  by 
their  ■practical  enunciations,  which  speak  louder  than 
any  words,  "  As  for  God  we  will  not  have  him  to 
reign  over  us.  We  love  the  wages  of  unrighteous- 
ness, and  after  sin  we  will  go." 

It  is  also  here  as  plainly  taught  us,  that  however 
this  may  be  the  determination  of  mankind,  and  how- 
ever unanimous  they  may  be  in  thus  casting  oif  .the 
yoke  and  authority  of  God — that,  nevertheless,  the} 
are  still  under  his  government,  under  untransferable 
obligation  to  obey  him,  and  amenable  to  that  law 
whose   wrath   is   revealed   from   heaven,  not  only 


160  EFFICIENCY  OF   CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLE. 

against  all  unrighteousness,  of  whatever  character  and 
degree,  but  also  against  the  ungodliness  of  all  men, 
of  whatever  name,  rank  or  station. 

It  is  further  and  very  clearly  taught  that,  how- 
ever men  may  be  now  guilty,  and  held  justly  ac- 
countable for  the  endurance  of  that  penalty  in 
which,  by  one  man's  disobedience,  we  are  all  in- 
volved; however  they  may  have  ratified  that  sin 
by  their  own  voluntary  choice  of  a  course  of  like 
disobedience;  and  however  habituated  they  may  have 
become  to  the  service  of  iniquity,  they  are  not  one 
whit  the  less  under  obligation,  or  less  bound  to  render 
unto  God  a  full  and  perfect  obedience.  By  the  very 
fact  that  God  has  permitted  them  to  live,  given  to 
them  the  exercise  of  a  free  agency,  and  presented  to 
them  motives  for  such  obedience,  they  are  impera- 
tively required,  by  every  consideration  of  justice,  to 
render  unto  God,  and  to  his  service,  those  powers  and 
faculties  with  which  he  has  endowed  them.  These 
powers  are  in  no  sense  theirs,  and  cannot,  therefore, 
without  robbery,  be  withdrawn  from  the  superin- 
tending care  and  claims  of  him  by  whom  they  were 
originally  given,  and  by  whom  they  are  constantly 
sustained. 

God  has  placed  in  the  breast  of  every  man  a  will, 
to  which  is  given  authority  and  power  to  govern  and 
direct  the  movements  of  the  inner  man.  By  this 
the  passions,  affections,  and  desires  move  and  exer- 
cise their  being,  and  without  its  consenting  fiat  no 
rational  act  can  be  performed.  Now,  in  the  present 
corrupt  state  of  human  nature,  this  will  has  been 
seduced  into  the  service  of  sin,  and  withdrawn  from 
all  natural  allegiance  to  the  dominion  of  heaven. 


THOS.    SMYTH,   D.   D.  161 

God,  however,  does  not  release  from  subjection 
this  will,  which  he  alone  could  either  give  or  main- 
tain. He,  therefore,  enters  his  demand  in  the  con- 
science of  every  human  being;  and,  calling  heaven 
and  earth  to  witness,  he  solemnly  forbids  that  ho- 
mage which  the  sinful  heart  of  man  renders  to  the 
god  of  this  world,  on  the  peril  of  everlasting  death ; 
while  he  encourages  its  devotion  to  himself  and  his 
service  by  the  promise  of  everlasting  life.  And  it 
is  of  God's  infinite  mercy  that  any  such  demand  is 
made  to  that  which  is  in  itself  of  no  account  to 
him,  and  of  which  he  has  been  so  unworthily  de- 
spoiled. It  is  because  of  God's  unspeakable  mercy 
we  are  spared  at  all,  borne  with  in  any  patience,  or 
permitted  the  opportunity  of  returning  to  our  alle- 
giance to  him.  And  that  we  should  be  invited  thus 
to  submit  our  wills  to  him,  and  to  devote  ourselves 
to  his  glorious  service,  by  those  motives  which  are 
presented  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  this  truly  is  a 
mystery  of  love,  whose  height,  and  depth,  whose 
length  and  breadth,  is  beyond  our  comprehension. 

You  will  observe,  too,  how  the  exhortation  re- 
quires not  that  we  should,  in  this  life,  be  absolutely 
free  from  sin  as  a  law  or  principle  within  us,  which 
would  be  impossible.  The  evil  tendency,  or  law  of 
our  members,  remains  even  in  regenerated  men,  and 
is  still  ready  to  war  against  their  renewed  nature. 
This  tendency  we  are  not  required,  therefore,  utterly 
to  destroy,  which  it  were  impossible,  while  in  this 
body  of  sin  and  death,  that  we  should ;  but  volun- 
tarily to  submit  to  this  inward  propensity,  or  to 
yield  ourselves  to  its  suggestions,  so  as  to  do  its  will, 
this  is  forbidden,  and  this  we  may  not  do.     On  the 


102  EFFICIENCY   OF    CHRISTIAN    PRINCIPLE. 

contrary,  to  be  resolutely  determined  not  to  submit 
to  this  law  of  concupiscence  or  sin,  but,  contrariwise, 
to  follow  out,  at  every  cost,  the  dictates  of  the  law 
of  holiness  ;  this  is  what  we  are  under  obligation  to 
perform  at  once  and  without  delay,  with  full  know- 
ledge of  what  is  required  of  us ;  with  serious  con- 
sideration; with  a  determinate  judgment;  with  lib- 
erty of  spirit,  having  disengaged  ourselves  from  all 
other  masters ;  with  a  belief  in  and  acceptance  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  God  in  him  as  our 
only  Lord,  Sovereign,  and  Master  ;  with  all  humility, 
joy,  and  gladness;  and  with  the  entire  surrender  of 
all  that  we  are  and  have  to  his  guidance  and  direc- 
tion. This  is  that  duty  to  which  we  are  each  called 
by  all  that  is  winning  in  mercy,  and  by  all  that  is 
fearful  in  that  wrath  which  burneth  even  to  the 
lowest  hell. 

This  duty  is  ours  as  fully  as  if  we  retained  all 
man's  original  power  and  inclination  to  discharge  it. 
It  is  plainly  and  absolutely  commanded.  And  it  is 
by  simply  believing  that  in  doing  what  God  has 
thus  warranted  and  required,  God  will  as  certainly 
"  work  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do ;"  it  is  by  thus 
casting  ourselves  before  his  footstool,  in  the  entire 
surrender  of  ourselves  to  him  in  Christ  Jesus,  and_ 
trusting  to  Christ's  righteousness  and  meritorious 
intercession,  that  every  sinner  has  been,  or  ever  will 
be,  made  able  and  willing  to  "yield  himself  unto 
God,  and  his  members  as  instruments  of  righteous- 
ness unto  him." 

But  this  brings  us,  in  the  second  place,  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  principle  upon  which  this  duty  is 
here  made  to  rest.     This,   also,  is  expressed   both 


THOS.    SMYTH,    D.    D.  163 

negatively  and  affirmatively.  We  are  exhorted  and 
required  to  devote  ourselves  to  God,  and  to  with- 
draw all  allegiance  from  the  service  of  the  world,  by 
the  assurance  that  we  are  "alive  from  the  dead." 
Herein  is  contained  the  principle  upon  which,  as  the 
only  true  and  living  root,  the  apostle  would  graft 
the  duty  of  obedience.  We  are  called  upon  to 
make  this  self-dedication  unto  God,  not  that  we  may 
thereby  obtain  life,  but  as  those  for  whom  that  life 
has  already  been  obtained  ;  not  that  we  may  merit 
life,  but  as  those  upon  whom  it  has  already  been 
most  graciously  conferred ;  not  that,  by  any  sacrifice 
on  our  part,  it  may  be  wrought  out,  but  as  those  for 
whom  it  has  been  already  purchased  by  the  precious 
blood  of  Christ.  The  principle  of  the  apostle  is, 
therefore,  diametrically  opposite  to  the  principle  of 
legalism  in  all  its  forms.  It  is  at  direct  variance 
with  all  the  prescriptions  by  which  men,  in  their 
arrogant  pretensions  to  wisdom,  would  secure  this 
heavenly  blessing.  "  Yield  yourselves  unto  God," 
they  would  tell  us  "  that,  by  such  a  holy  devoted- 
ness,  ye  may  commend  yourselves  to  God,  and  thus 
secure  the  blessings  of  life  and  salvation  at  his 
hands.  Enter,  therefore,  upon  this  way  of  formal 
and  ceremonial  purification,  since,  without  holiness, 
it  is  impossible  that  you  can  ever  see  God."  Such 
would  be  the  exhortation  of  those  who  build  their 
hopes  upon  a  righteousness  within  them,  and  not 
upon  a  righteousness  without  and  beyond  them,  and 
who  thus  seek  to  be  justified  for  their  own  doings, 
and  not  for  the  work  and  merit  of  "  the  Lord  our 
righteousness." 

But  how  widely  different  is  the  prescription  of  this 


164  EFFICIENCY   OF   CHRISTIAN   PRINCIPLE. 

divine  apostle.  He  inspirits  us  to  this  act  of  a  self- 
devoting  sacrifice,  not  so  much  by  the  prospect  of 
what  may  in  future  be  gained  by  it,  as  by  the  thought 
of  what  has  been  already  achieved  on  our  behalf; 
not  so  much  by  the  hope  of  conciliating  the  divine 
clemency,  as  by  the  glorious  assurance  that  God  has 
been  already  reconciled.  "  As  those  who  are"  already 
"  alive  from  the  dead,"  and  to  whom  there  is  held 
forth  the  promise  of  an  ascension  to  glory,  even  to 
that  glory  with  which  Christ  has  been  glorified,  are 
we  here  urged  to  "yield  ourselves  to  God." 

There  is  a  peculiar  force  and  expressiveness  in  this 
declaration,  which  plucks  up  by  the  very  roots  all 
dependence,  for  the  production  of  holiness,  upon  the 
ability  or  self-righteousness  of  the  creature.  "As  in 
Adam  all  died,  so  in  Christ  shall  all"  the  redeemed 
"  be  made  alive ;"  "for  as  by  one  man's  disobedience 
many  were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one 
shall  many  be  made  righteous."  By  sinning  in  the  first 
Adam,  as  our  public  head  and  representative,  we  were 
all  constituted  sinners,  and  are  treated  by  the  divine 
Lawgiver  as  guilty  in  his  sight,  "and  so  death  hath 
passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned."  Thus 
were  we,  and  our  entire  race,  under  sentence  of  death, 
and  bound  over  to  the  endurance  of  this  dread  penalty. 
And  the  righteousness  of  such  a  sentence  we  have  all 
attested  by  the  fact,  that  out  of  the  universal  race 
of  man,  there  has  not  yet  been  found  "one  righteous, 
no,  not  one ;  all  having  gone  out  of  the  way,  each  in 
his  own  way"  of  sin  and  folly.  But  by  becoming 
united  to  the  second  Adam,  the  Lord  from  heaven, 
the  head  and  representative  of  the  whole  family  of 
the  redeemed,  we  are  constituted  righteous  through 


THOS.    SMYTH,    D.   D.  165 

the  merit  of  his  righteousness,  which  is  imputed  to 
us,  and  are  treated  by  God  accordingly.  "  There  is, 
therefore,"  we  are  assured,  "  now  no  condemnation 
to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus."  Death  hath  no 
dominion  over  them.  The  law  has  no  demands 
against  them.  For  since  death  has  been  endured  by 
their  Surety  on  their  behalf,  and  since  the  law  has 
been  magnified  and  satisfied  for  them,  they  can  walk 
forth  in  all  the  freedom  of  deliverance,  and  rejoice  in 
"the  glorious  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made 
them  free." 

This,  then,  is  one  view  of  this  all  powerful  mo- 
tive, by  which  the  apostle  urges  us  to  an  entire  devo- 
tion to  God.  Inasmuch  as  all  the  claims  of  that 
law,  which  you  had  broken,  have  been  fully  met,  and 
the  uttermost  of  its  denounced  penalty  has  been 
borne ;  since  He  who  thus  suffered  for  you  still 
lives  to  intercede  on  your  behalf;  and  since  this 
whole  plan  of  salvation  was  of  God's  devising,  and 
has  been  completed  unto  God's  well  pleasing;  as 
those,  who  are  thus  redeemed  from  the  threatened 
penalty  of  death,  and  who  are  thus  made  legally  en- 
titled to  the  sentence  of  divine  approval,  "yield 
yourselves  unto  God,"  "who  is  now  in  Christ  Jesus 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself."  Instead,  there- 
fore, of  urging  us  to  holiness,  by  the  motive  of  thereby 
meriting  the  Divine  favour,  we  are  urged  to  it  by  the 
very  fact,  that  thereby  we  can  merit  no  favour,  that 
propitiation  having  been  already  secured  by  the  me- 
diation of  the  Son  of  God;  and  instead  of  inviting 
to  the  pursuit  of  holiness,  that  we  may  thus  open 
up  a  way  of  access  unto  God,  it  is  by  the  very  plea 
that  such  a  way  has  been  already  made  plain  and 


166  EFFICIENCY   OF    CHRISTIAN   PRINCIPLE. 

obvious,  that  we  are  encouraged  to  approach.  It  is 
no  longer,  therefore,  argues  the  apostle,  impossible 
for  you  thus  to  yield  yourselves  as  sinners  unto  God, 
seeing  that  every  let  and  hindrance  has  been  removed ; 
that  an  "atonement"  has  been  made,  and  that  God  is 
now  "just,  and  yet  the  justifier  of  the  ungodly."  The 
doctrine  of  salvation  is  thus  adapted  by  the  God  of 
nature  to  the  mightiest  principle  of  nature — "  for  we 
are  saved  by  hope."  We  are  begotten  by  the  Gospel 
to  the  blessed  hope  of  an  immortal  life.  We  are  cer- 
tified that  the  battle  has  been  fought  and  the  victory 
won,  and  that  now  there  is  announced  to  us,  through 
Him  who  was  mighty  to  save,  that  Gospel  which 
bringeth  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  even  "peace  on 
earth,  and  good  will  to  men." 

But,  while  in  this  argument  of  the  apostle,  there 
is  an  appeal  made  to  the  principle  of  hope,  the  most 
potent  affection  of  our  nature,  this  argument  is  also 
addressed  to  the  principle  of  gratitude,  which  is  per- 
haps one  of  the  most  pure,  pleasant,  and  disinter- 
ested of  those  affections  by  which  the  heart  of  man 
is  actuated.  "  Yield  yourselves  unto  God  as  those 
that  are  dead."  By  the  very  fact,  that  you  who 
were  dead;  dead  in  law,  dead  by  the  utterance 
against  you  of  heaven's  righteous  sentence  of  ever- 
lasting death ;  dead  to  all  hope  of  any  possible  de- 
liverance; by  the  thought  that  you  "are  now  alive;" 
and  by  the  infinite  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  delivered 
from  that  condition  of  despairing  wretchedness — 
"yield  yourselves  unto  God."  Withhold  not  that 
soul  from  God,  which  had  been  brought  under  the 
sentence  of  eternal  death  by  its  apostacy  from  him, 
and  which  has  now  been  re-purchased  from  the  hands 


THOS.    SMYTH,    D.  D.  167 

of  eternal  justice ;  "not  with  corruptible  things,  such 
as  silver  and  gold,"  but  by  the  endurance,  in  our 
stead,  by  God's  only  begotten  Son,  of  all  this  deserved 
misery. 

Sin  is  here,  as  I  said,  likened  to  some  cruel  and 
despotic  monarch,  who,  after  he  has  seduced  poor 
and  deluded  souls  into  his  service,  by  the  pleasures 
which  he  affords  them  for  a  season,  then  gluts  his 
bloody  and  ferocious  spirit,  by  putting  them  to  fierce 
and  endless  torments.  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death." 
We  are  now  in  the  position  of  those  who,  by  the 
interposition  of  another,  have  been  rescued  from  the 
grasp  of  this  destroyer ;  and  we  are,  therefore,  called 
upon  to  yield  ourselves  henceforth  unto  His  service, 
by  whom  we  have  been  redeemed,  and  by  whom 
alone  we  can  be  preserved,  and  not  again  to  yield 
ourselves  to  one  from  whose  determined  vengeance 
we  were  so  mercifully  and  so  wonderfully  preserved. 
Let  us  take  the  recorded  instance  of  that  princely 
father,  whose  own  son  was  found  to  be  the  first  vio- 
lator of  a  law,  the  penalty  of  whose  infraction  was 
the  loss  of  both  eyes.  In  the  yearnings  of  paternal 
love,  and  yet  as  governed  by  the  mastering  principle 
of  sovereign  equity,  he  desires  to  maintain  justice, 
and  yet  exercise  compassion.  The  prince,  therefore^ 
humbles  himself,  though  innocent  of  the  crime,  to  a 
substituted  endurance  of  one  half  of  the  denounced 
penalty,  and  was  deprived,  on  behalf  of  his  guilty 
son,  of  one  of  his  own  eyes.  Now,  were  that  son 
again  actuated  with  a  desire,  whose  indulgence  would 
incur  the  vengeance  of  the  law,  how  ought  he  to  be 
dissuaded  from  such  a  suicidal  act,  by  the  affecting 
remembrance,  that  he  was  now  freed  from  the  full 


168  EFFICIENCY   OF   CHRISTIAN   PRINCIPLE. 

endurance  of  that  penalty,  which  he  had  in  part 
suffered,  through  the  satisfaction  rendered  to  the  law 
by  the  suffering  and  loss  of  another?  And  how  would 
his  heart  be  made  to  relent,  by  the  recollection  that 
he  who  did  so  interpose  on  his  behalf,  was  no  other 
than  his  own  offended  father  ? 

Now  just  such,  though  immeasurably  stronger, 
is  the  appeal  here  made  to  us.  We  were  condemned, 
not  to  the  loss  of  our  eyes  merely,  but  to  the  loss  of 
life  itself;  not  to  the  loss  of  our  bodily  life  merely, 
but  to  the  loss  of  our  spiritual  and  eternal  life  also, 
involving,  as  this  necessarily  does,  the  misery  of 
eternal  death.  We  "were  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins,"  and  "  already  condemned."  -  And  we  may 
imagine,  that  having  actually  endured  the  bitter 
curse  of  death,  we  are  again  alive,  through  the  mi- 
raculous and  all  merciful  agency  of  the  divine  Re- 
deemer. As  those,  therefore,  who  have  been  thus 
restored  to  life ;  as  those  whose  death  is  not  again 
required  to  meet  the  claims  of  a  violated  law ;  as 
those  for  whose  deliverance  salvation  has  been 
wrought  out  by  none  other-  than  the  very  power 
against  which  we  had  so  grievously  offended ;  we 
are  persuaded  not  again  to  bring  ourselves  into  bon- 
dage to  sin  and  Satan,  but  to  throw  ourselves  upon 
the  mercy  of  Him  "  who  hath  loved  us,  and  given 
himself  for  us,"  and  who  was  made  a  curse  for  us, 
being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  that  we,  through  his 
death,  might  have  everlasting  life. 

Nor  is  this  all  that  is  contained  within  the  com- 
pass of  tins  heavenly  principle.  It  makes  its  appeal 
not  only  to  hope,  which  is  the  strongest,  and  to 
gratitude,  which  is  the   loveliest  principle  of    our 


THOS.    SMYTH,   D.   D.  169 

nature,  but  also  to  the  assured  certainty  of  success, 
which  must  leave  us  inexcusable  for  our  disobe- 
dience. "As  those  who  are  alive  from  the  dead." 
Not  merely  does  this  teach  us,  that  by  the  merito- 
rious sacrifice  and  atoning  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  are  we  alive  legally,  the  sentence  of  the  law 
having  been  endured  by  another.  Not  merely  does 
it  teach  us  that,  being  thus  alive,  we  are  bound 
gratefully  to  live  unto  Him  who  thus  died  for  us, 
and  by  whom,  also,  we  may  be  completely  redeemed ; 
but  it  teaches  us,  also,  that  if  we  will  only  believe 
on  this  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  as  thus  able, 
and  willing,  and  mighty  to  save  us,  yea,  "even  to 
the  uttermost,"  and  though  we  be  the  "  very  chief 
of  sinners,"  there  is  in  him  an  omnific  virtue  by 
which  we  shall  as  certainly  be  made  alive  spiritu- 
ally. We  shall  be  made  "  alive  unto  God"  as  we 
have  hitherto  been  alive  only  to  sin.  We  shall  be 
so  wrought  upon  by  the  power  of  that  Spirit,  whose 
divine  agency  Christ  has  secured  for  us,  by  virtue 
of  the  everlasting  covenant,  that  we  shall  become, 
as  it  were,  "  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus,"  "  being 
born  again"  by  a  new  and  celestial  birth.  If  any 
man  will  thus  cast  himself,  in  a  believing  acceptance 
of  him,  upon  Christ  Jesus,  "  he  is  a  new  creature," 
for  "  though  he  were  dead  he  shall  be  made  alive," 
even  for  evermore.  Christ  Jesus  is  thus  our  head,  not 
only  legally,  but  also  vitally.  He  is  the  source,  not 
only  of  justification  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  but  of 
sanctification  also  from  the  power  of  sin.  He  has 
not  only  wrought  out  a  work  of  grace  for  us,  he 
also  accomplishes  a  work  of  grace  within  us.  He 
opens  the  heart.     He  sends  into  it  his  quickening 


170  EFFICIENCY   OF    CHRISTIAN   PRINCIPLE. 

spirit.  He  imparts  to  the  soul  spiritual  energy  and 
life. 

He,  therefore,  in  whom  we  are  to  believe,  has 
power  also  to  enable  and  dispose  our  hearts  to 
believe  upon  him.  He,  to  whom  we  are  to  yield 
ourselves,  is  able  also  to  make  us  willing  for  such  a 
consecration ;  and  he,  to  whose  service  we  are  to  be 
given,  is  also  ready  to  fit  and  prepare  us  for  all  its 
requisitions,  and  to  "  give  us  power  to  become  the 
sons  of  God." 

Are  you,  then,  now  disabled  by  sin,  and  far  gone 
from  original  righteousness  ?  Christ,  who  raised  up 
the  dead  by  his  mighty  power,  is  also  able  to 
quicken  your  souls,  and  to  make  them  alive  unto 
God.  Are  you  under  the  dominion  of  sin,  and 
bound  down  hand  and  foot  by  its  iron  fetters  ? 
Only  yield  yourselves  to  Christ,  and  those  chains 
shall  burst  asunder,  and  fall  from  around  you  as  did 
the  cerements  of  the  grave  from  around  the  reno- 
vated Lazarus,  or  as  did  the  fetters  from  the  freed 
limbs  of  the  imprisoned  apostles.  He  who  speaks 
the  word  gives  the  power.  He  who  commands  also 
inspires.  He  who  bids  the  dead  come  forth,  breathes 
into  him  the  breath  of  life,  and  empowers  him  to 
walk  forth  in  newness  of  life.  He  who  requires  you 
to  yield  yourselves  unto  him,  is  able  also  to  assure 
you  of  your  success,  for  "sin  shall  not  have  do- 
minion over  us." 

And  are  you  under  a  debt  of  obligation  to  God's 
holy  and  righteous  law,  which  you  are  incompetent 
to  satisfy,  and  exposed  to  its  vengeance,  which  you 
dare  not  confront?  Nay,  but  my  fellow-sinner, 
"you   are   not  under  the  law,   but   under  grace." 


THOS.    SMYTH,    D.   D.  171 

Yours  is  a  dispensation  of  mercy,  and  not  of  justice. 
Yours  is  the  offer  of  a  free  purchase  and  gratuitous 
pardon ;  and  the  law  itself  rejoices,  since  "  mercy 
and  truth  have  in  Christ  Jesus  met  together, 
righteousness  and  peace  have  embraced  each  other." 

Neither  is  yours  "  the  spirit  of  bondage,  that  you 
should  again  fear,"  but  the  spirit  of  freedom  and  of 
love,  that  you  should  draw  near  in  confidence,  and 
even  boldness.  The  law,  as  your  creditor,  has  no 
demand;  for,  in  the  obedience  of  Christ,  the  debt 
has  been  more  than  liquidated. 

If,  then,  there  is  any  power  in  hope  to  inspire  and 
animate  the  human  breast;  if  there  is  any  thing  in 
gratitude  to  call  forth  its  tenderest  sensibilities ;  if 
there  is  aught  in  the  assurance  q/*x  success  to  inspirit 
to  noble  daring;  if  these  motives  are  powerful,  and 
the  objects  to  which  they  lead  invaluable,  then 
surely  there  is  in  this  argument  of  the  apostle  the 
law  of  evangelical  holiness,  and  all  the  strength  of 
divine  principle.  And  hence  may  you  perceive  the 
ignorance  and  fatuity  of  vain  and  conceited  men, 
who  charge  the  doctrine  of  a  free,  unlimited,  and 
gratuitous  mercy,  with  the  consequences  of  licen- 
tiousness in  practice,  and  weakness  in  motive,  or 
who  fear  to  proclaim  to  men,  in  all  its  fullness,  "the 
glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God."  The  spirit  of 
the  Christian  is  free  and  not  constrained.  It  is  sponta- 
neous, and  not  forced.  It  is  filial,  and  not  slavish. 
It  is  cordial,  and  not  formal.  It  is  liberty,  and  not 
law.     It  is  love,  and  not  fear. 

The  condemnation  wherewith  the  finally  impeni- 
tent sinner  shall  be  everlastingly  condemned  will  be, 
not  that  he  could  not  discover  the  knowledge  of  the 


172  EFFICIENCY  OF   CHRISTIAN   PRINCIPLE. 

Most  High,  but  that  he  would  not  come  to  the  light, 
lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved ;  not  that  he  would 
not  come  unto  God  by  his  own  power,  which  he 
could  not  do,  but  that  he  would  not  come  unto  God 
by  Christ,  who  is  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life ;" 
not  that  he  did  not  make  himself  whole  when  he 
was  diseased,  or  alive  when  he  was  dead,  or  righte- 
ous when  he  was  sinful,  or  holy  when  he  was  pol- 
luted, but  that  he  would  not  come  unto  that  blessed 
Saviour,  who,  as  a  physician,  is  able  to  restore  him ; 
who,  as  almighty  to  save,  can  even  quicken  souls 
which  are  spiritually  dead,  and  who  of  God  is  made 
unto  every  one  that  believeth  wisdom,  and  righte- 
ousness, and  sanctification,  and  complete  redemp- 
tion. 

Just,  then,  as  inexcusable  is  the  obstinate  .and  self- 
destroyed  sinner,  as  is  the  man  who,  when  sick,  re- 
fuses to  send  for  a  physician,  or  to  receive  his  medi- 
cine when  offered.  Yes,  just  as  everlastingly  self- 
condemned  will  you  be,  my  impenitent  reader,  who 
now  in  this,  the  day  of  thy  merciful  visitation,  put- 
teth  away  from  thee  the  things  that  belong  to  thy 
peace.  Only  continue  in  thy  present  course,  and 
soon  it  will  be  said  of  thee,  "  but  now  they  are  for 
ever  hidden  from  thine  eyes,  for  thou  hast  destroyed 
thyself."  "  Because  thou  sayest  I  am  rich,  and  in- 
creased with  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing ;  and 
knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched,  and  miserable, 
and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked :  I  counsel  thee  to 
buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  that  thou  mayest  be 
rich ;  and  white  raiment,  that  thou  mayest  be  clothed, 
and  that  the  shame  of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear ; 
and   anoint  thine   eyes   with  eye-salve,  that   thou 


THOS.    SMYTH,    D.    D.  173 

mayest  see."  "Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door,  and 
knock :  if  any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the 
door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him, 
and  he  with  me.  To  him  that  overcome th  will  I 
grant  to  sit  with  me  in  my  throne,  even  as  I  also 
overcame,  and  am  set  down  with  my  Father  in  his 
throne.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what 
the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches." 


THE  GOOD  MAN. 


BT 

JOHN  M'DOWELL,  D.  D. 

PASTOR   OP   THE    SPRING    GARDEN   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    PHILADELPHIA. 


"  He  was  a  good  man." — Acts  xi.  24,  first  clause. 

This  was  said  of  Barnabas.  He  was  a  Levite,  of  the 
country  of  Cyprus.  Some  suppose  he  was  one  of  the 
seventy  disciples,  whom  our  Lord  sent  out  to  preach 
the  Gospel ;  but  of  this  we  have  no  certain  evidence. 
He  introduced  Paul  to  the  apostles  and  disciples  at 
Jerusalem,  and  assured  them  of  his  conversion.  He 
was  afterwards,  for  several  years,  the  companion  of 
Paul  in  his  travels,  and  his  fellow  labourer  in  the 
gospel  ministry;  and  he  was  with  him,  as  a  dele- 
gate from  the  Syrian  churches  to  the  famous  Coun- 
cil at  Jerusalem.  There  was  finally  a  dissension 
between  him  and  Paul,  about  taking  Mark  with 
them  on  a  missionary  tour,  and  they  separated,  and 
Barnabas  went  to  Cyprus,  and  we  hear  no  more  of 
him. 

At  the  time,  in  the  history  of  Barnabas,  when 
the  testimony  in  the  text  was  given  of  him,  he  was 
at  Antioch,  in  Syria,  whither  he  had  been  sent  by 
the  church  of  Jerusalem,  on  hearing  of  a  special 
work  of  grace  in  that  city.     When  Barnabas  came 

(174) 


JOHN    M'DOWELL,   D.    D.  175 

to  Antioch,  "  and  had  seen  the  grace  of  God,  he  was 
glad,  and  exhorted  them  all,  that  with  purpose  of 
heart  they  would  cleave  unto  the  Lord."  Our  text 
is  given  as  a  reason  why  he  was  glad  at  the  pros- 
perity of  the  religion  he  witnessed,  and  why  he  ex- 
horted the  new  converts  as  he  did ;  "  for  he  was  a 
good  man."  The  term  good  here  expresses  the 
whole  religious  character  of  the  real  Christian.  In 
this  sense  the  term  will  be  understood  in  the  ensuing 
discourse,  the  object  of  which  will  be 

To  give  the  character  of  the  good  man,  or  real 
Christian,  and 

1.  The  good  man  has  had  his  heart  changed.  No 
person,  however  amiable  in  the  sight  of  men  his 
natural  temper  may  be,  has  naturally  a  heart  that 
is  good  in  the  sight  of  God,  or  in  the  sense  in  which 
the  word  is  applied  to  men  in  the  Scriptures.  In 
his  natural  state  every  person  is  "dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sius."  Eph.  ii.  1.  He  "  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness 
unto  him ;  neither  can  he  know  them."  1  Cor.  ii.  14. 
He  is  carnal,  for  "  that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is 
flesh,"  or  carnal.  John  iii.  6.  And  "  the  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not  subject  to 
the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  Rom.  viii.  7. 
Such,  according  to  the  "Word  of  God,  is  the  native 
character  of  all  men,  and  such  was  once  the  cha- 
racter of  every  one  who  is  now  a  good  man. 

.  But,  by  the  special  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  naturally  corrupt  heart  of  him  who  is  now  a 
good  man  has  been  changed.  He  has  been  "re- 
newed in  knowledge,  after  the  image  of  Him  that 
created  him."   Col.  iii.  10.     And  "after  God,"  or 


176  THE   GOOD   MAN. 

after  his  image,  he  has  been  "  created  in  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness."  Eph.  iv.  24.  He  has  had 
imparted  to  him,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  a  temper  of 
conformity  to  the  image  and  will  of  God.  This 
change  every  good  man  or  true  Christian  has  ex- 
perienced ;  for  we  read,  "  Except  a  man  be  born 
again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  Except 
a  man  be  born  of  water,  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  Marvel  not  that  I 
said  unto  thee,  Ye  must  be  born  again."  John  iii. 
3,  5,  7.  "If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new 
creature ;  old  things  have  passed  away ;  behold,  all 
things  are  become  new."  2  Cor.  v.  17.  The  time 
and  manner  of  this  change  may  be  different  in  dif- 
ferent persons,  and  in  some  it  may  be  more  marked 
than  in  others  ;  but  the  change  itself  every  good 
man,  without  exception,  has  experienced ;  and  in 
vain  do  any  lay  claim  to  the  character  of  a  good 
man  if  they  are  strangers  to  regeneration. 

2.  The  good  man  has  come  to  Christ  by  faith,  and 
has  placed  his  reliance  for  pardon  and  acceptance 
with  God  solely  on  his  merits.  With  Paul,  "know- 
ing that  a  man  is  not  justified  by  the  works  of  the 
law,  but  by  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  has  believed 
in  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  might  be  justified  by  the 
faith  of  Christ,  and  not  by  the  works  of  the  law." 
Gal.  ii.  16.  Sensible  of  his  sinfulness,  guilt,  and  de- 
served condemnation,  and  that  he  has  no  righteous- 
ness of  his  own  to  merit  forgiveness  and  acceptance 
with  God,  and  approving  of  the  way  of  salvation 
through  Christ,  he  has  renounced  his  own  righte- 
ousness, and  cordially  accepted  Christ  as  the  Lord 
his  righteousness ;  and  on  his  merits  alone  he  relies 


JOHN    MCDOWELL,    D.    D.  177 

for  justification.  Christ  is  the  good  man's  all  in  the 
article  of  justification. 

He  is  his  all,  too,  in  the  article  of  sanctification. 
He  feels  that  he  is,  of  himself,  unable  to  subdue  his 
corruptions,  and  do  his  duty,  and  lead  a  life  of  holi- 
ness before  God,  and  that  Christ  alone  is  the  be- 
liever's life.  He  therefore  relies  on  him,  by  his 
Spirit,  to  mortify  sin  within  him;  to  impart,  pre- 
serve, and  quicken  grace;  to  strengthen  him  to 
resist  temptations,  and  do  his  duty;  and  to  keep 
him,  through  faith,  unto  final  salvation.  He  is 
sensible  that  without  Christ  he  "  can  do  nothing," 
and  therefore  he  relies  on  him  for  every  thing. 

3.  The  good  man  is  a  true  penitent  for  sin.  He 
has  been  convinced  of  sin,  and  felt  himself  to  be  a 
sinner;  he  has  been  convinced  of  the  odious  and 
evil  nature  of  sin,  and  of  his  desert  of  the  wrath  of 
God  for  his  sins,  and  that  God  would  be  just  in  pun- 
ishing him ;  he  has  sorrowed  on  account  of  his  sins, 
been  self-abased  before  God,  and,  with  contrition  of 
heart,  made  confession  to  him ;  and  he  has,  with 
hatred  of  sin,  turned  from  it  unto  God.  This  is 
repentance  unto  life,  and  every  good  man  has  exer- 
cised it ;  for  our  Saviour  declared,  "  Except  ye  re- 
pent, ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  Luke  xiii.  3. 
And  the  good  man  not  only  repented,  when  he 
first  became  pious,  but  he  still  repents.  He  is  sen- 
sible that  sin  still  cleaves  to  him,  and  dwells  in  him, 
and  that  his  best  services  are  marked  with  imper- 
fection and  sin.  Sin  is  still  odious  and  evil  in  his 
sight ;  he  still  feels  that  he  deserves  the  wrath  of 
God  for  his  sins ;  he  still  mourns  that  he  ever  sinned 
against  God,  and  still  sins,  and  comes  short  of  his 

13 


178  THE   GOOD   MAN. 

dutv:  and  he  still  confesses  his  sins  to  God,  and 
hates  them  more  and  more. 

4.  The  good  man  is,  in  general,  correct  in  the 
articles  of  Ids  faith.  It  is  an  incorrect  and  danger- 
ous sentiment,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  indifference 
what  a  man  believes  if  his  life  be  good,  for  the  Word 
of  God  requires  us  to  believe  the  truth  he  has  re- 
vealed, as  well  as  do  what  he  has  commanded ;  and 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  have  such  an  intimate 
influence  on  the  temper  and  practice,  that  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  a  man's  life  ever  be  really  good, 
when  his  faith,  in  regard  to  the  great  doctrines  of 
religion,  is  wrong.  There  are  some  doctrines  which 
are  fundamental  in  the  Christian  system !  The 
belief  of  such  doctrines  is  essential  to  the  character 
of  the  good  man.  These  doctrines  are  such  as  the 
following :  the  depravity  and  ruined  state  of  man ; 
salvation  only  through  Christ ;  that  he  is  a  divine 
person,  God  equal  with  the  Father ;  that  he  made 
atonement  for  sin,  which  is  the  only  just  foundation 
of  a  sinner's  reconciliation  with  God ;  justification 
only  by  faith  in  him ;  regeneration  and  sanctifica- 
tion  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  also  a  divine  person,  and 
the  necessity  of  holiness  of  heart  and  life.  These 
doctrines  good  men  of  all  denominations  believe, 
though  they  may  differ  on  some  points  of  less  im- 
portance. 

The  good  man,  whatever  name  he  may  bear,  takes 
the  Scriptures  implicitly  as  the  rule  of  his  faith.  He 
does  not  set  up  his  reason,  or  inclination,  above  the 
Word  of  God ;  he  desires  to  know  what  the  truth  of 
God  is,  and  as  far  as  he  knows,  he  believes  what 
God  has  revealed ;  though  he  may  not  be  able  fully 


JOHN  m'dowell,  d.  d.  179 

to  explain  or  comprehend  it,  and  though  it  may  be 
contrary  to  his  preconceived  opinions,  and  humbling 
to  his  pride. 

5.  The  good  man  leads  a  holy  life.  If  the  heart 
be  good,  the  outward  conduct  will  also  be  good.  "  A 
good  man,  out  of  the  good  treasury  of  the  heart, 
bringeth  forth  good  things."  Matt.  xii.  35.  The  good 
man  faithfully  endeavours  to  keep  a  conscience  void 
of  offence  towards  God  and  man ;  "  he  does  justly, 
loves  mercy,  and  walks  humbly  with  God."  Mic.  vi.  8. 
And,  "  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  he 
lives  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present 
world."  Titus  ii.  12.  He  takes  the  Word  of  God  im- 
plicitly as  his  rule  of  conduct ;  he  reads  and  searches 
it,  that  he  may  know  the  will  of  his  heavenly  mas- 
ter; and  he  follows  its  directions,  however  self-de- 
nying and  unfashionable  they  may  be ;  whatever 
sacrifices  they  may  require  him  to  make,  and  to 
whatever  opposition  and  trials  they  may  expose  him. 
He  does  not  part  with  some  sins  while  he  retains 
others,  but  renounces  all  sin.  Though  a  sin  may  have 
been  to  him  as  dear  as  a  right  hand,  he  cuts  it  off; 
or  a' right  eye,  he  plucks  it  out.  He  does  not  desire 
to  reconcile  the  service  of  God  with  that  of  Mammon, 
and  endeavour  to  serve  both ;  but  the  Lord  is  his  only 
master.  He  gives  him  an  undivided  heart,  and  he 
makes  every  pursuit,  even  that  of  the  world,  subser- 
vient to  his  service.  He  faithfully  endeavours  to 
know  his  duty,  and  when  he  knows  it,  to  perform 
it,  whether  it  be  to  God,  his  fellow  men,  or  himself. 

In  the  performance  6T  the  duties  which  he  owes 
more  immediately  to  God,  he  engages  habitually,  and 
with  delight  in  his  worship.    He  reads  and  searches 


180  THE   GOOD   MAN. 

the  Scriptures;  he  meditates  upon  them;  "his  delight 
is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  in  his  law  doth  he 
meditate  day  and  night."  Psa.  i.  2.  With  David  he 
can  say,  "  I  have  loved  the  habitation  of  thy  house, 
and  the  place  where  thine  honour  dwelleth."  Psa. 
xxvi.  8.  And  he  is  statedly  seen  at  the  house  of 
God,  in  the  seasons  of  public  worship.  He  is  not 
willingly  a  half  day  worshipper  on  the  Sabbath. 
The  tabernacles  of  the  Lord  are  amiable  to  him  ;  and 
when  he  is  necessarily  kept  from  the  house  of  God, 
he  feels  it  to  be  a  privation  and  affliction.  He  loves 
to  meet  with  the  people  of  God,  for  his  worship,  on 
other  days  beside  the  Sabbath ;  and  when  other  du- 
ties will  permit,  he  embraces  the  opportunity.  He 
delights  to  renew  his  covenant  with  God  at  his  table, 
and  obey  the  command  of  his  Saviour,  "  Do  this  in 
remembrance  of  me."  He  is  not  ashamed  to  own 
before  the  world,  that  he  is  a  disciple  of  Christ ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  glories  in  it.  He  loves  the  Sabbath;  it 
is  to  him  the  best  day  in  all  the  seven.  He  is  not  seen" 
travelling  on  this  sacred  day,  or  riding,  or  walking 
for  pleasure,  or  engaging  in  secular  business,  or  spend- 
ing its  hours  in  idleness.  The  Sabbath  is  not  a 
weakness  to  him,  but  he  esteems  it  a  "delight,  the 
holy  of  the  Lord,  and  honourable,"  and  he  remem- 
bers it  to  keep  it  holy. 

He  lives  a  life  of  prayer;  and  he  prays,  not  merely 
because  he  feels  it  to  be  a  duty,  to  which  he  is  driven 
by  conscience,  but  because  he  loves  to  pray.  His 
affections  are  engaged  in  prayer,  and  he  presents  to 
his  Heavenly  Father  the  sincere  and  earnest  desires 
of  his  heart ;  and  when  in  prayer  his  affections  are 
languid,  and  he  does  not  meet  his  God,  he  is  dis- 


JOHN  MCDOWELL,  d.  d.  181 

satisfied  .with  himself,  and  mourns.  He  is  daily  in 
his  closet  engaged  in  secret  prayer,  at  least  morning 
and  evening.  Is  he  the  head  of  a  family  ?  He  is 
the  priest  in  his  own  house ;  and  there,  with  his  col- 
lected family,  he  daily  offers  the  morning  and  the 
evening  sacrifice.  Instead  of  allowing  prayer  to  give 
way  to  worldly  business,  when  they  seem  to  inter- 
fere, he  makes  worldly  business  yield  to  prayer.  It 
is  with  him  a  settled  rule,  that  whatever  is  neglected, 
prayer  must  not  be,  in  its  stated  seasons.  Follow 
the  good  man  to  his  daily  occupations,  and  could  you 
witness  what  passes  in  his  heart,  you  would  find  his 
thoughts  frequently  going  out  after  God,  and  fixing 
on  divine  things,  and  devout  ejaculations  ascending 
to  heaven.  In  short,  the  good  man  engages  with 
delight  in  all  the  ordinances  of  divine  worship. 

In  the  performance  of  the  duties  he  owes  his 
fellow  men,  the  good  man  is  equally  faithful.  In 
his  conduct  towards  them  he  follows  the  rnle  laid 
down  by  his  divine  Master :  "  All  things  whatsoever 
ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so 
to  them."  Matt.  vii.  12.  He  is  strictly  honest  and 
just  in  all  his  dealings ;  and  if  he  has  any  thing 
that  belongs  to  another,  when  he  discovers  it  he 
restores  it,  or  makes  restitution. 

And  he  not  only  does  justly,  but  he  also  loves 
and  practices  mercy.  He  has  pity  on  the  poor. 
According  to  the  Word  of  God, "  a  good  man  showeth 
favour,  and  lendeth;  he  hath  dispersed,  he  hath 
given  to  the  poor."  Psa.  cxii.  5,  9.  He  feels  also  for 
the  spiritual  necessities  and  miseries  of  others,  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  is  ready,  by  his  prayers, 
labours,   and   contributions,   to   do   them   spiritual 


182  THE   GOOD   MAN. 

good.  He  is  a  kind  and  obliging  neighbour;  he 
sympathizes  with  the  distressed ;  he  rejoices  in  the 
prosperity  of  others,  and  grieves  at  their  adversity ; 
"  he  rejoices  with  them  that  do  rejoice,  and  weeps 
with  them  that  weep."  Rom.  xii.  15. 

He  is  tender  of  the  good  name  of  others ;  he  is 
no  slanderer  nor  tale-bearer;  he  "rejoiceth  not  in 
iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth ;"  he  bridles  his 
tongue,  and  suffers  it  not  to  be  used  to  the  injury  of 
others.  When  variances  arise,  between  him  and 
others,  he  readily  becomes  reconciled,  and  forgives 
them  who  have  injured  him.  According  to  apos- 
tolic injunctions,  "Laying  aside  all  malice,  and 
all  guile,  and  hypocrisies,  and  envies,  and  all  evil 
speakings,"  1  Pet.  ii.  1,  he  "  puts  on,  as  the  elect  of 
God,  holy  and  beloved,  bowels  of  mercies,  kindness, 
humbleness  of  mind,  meekness,  long  suffering,  for- 
bearing, and  forgiving  one  another."  Col.  iii.  12,  13. 
The  peace  of  God  rules  in  his  heart,  and  he  even 
loves  his  enemies  with  a  love  of  benevolence,  desir- 
ing their  good,  and  disposed  to  assist  them  when 
distressed  or  in  need.  According  to  the  command 
of  his  divine  Master,  he  "  blesses  them  that  curse 
him,  does  good  to  them  that  hate  him,  and  prays  for 
them  which  despitefully  use  and  persecute  him." 
Matt.  v.  44. 

He  faithfully  performs  the  duties  of  his  stations 
and  relations  in  life.  Is  he  a  magistrate,  high  or 
low  ?  he  discharges  his  official  duties  in  the  fear  of 
God,  and  with  impartiality  according  to  law  and 
justice.  Is  he  a  private  citizen  ?  he  respects  the  laws 
of  his  country,  and  is  subject  to  every  ordinance  of 
man  which  does  not  interfere  with  the  rights  of  con- 


JOHN   MCDOWELL,   D.   D.  183 

science  for  conscience  sake.  He  "renders  to  all 
their  dues,  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due,  custom  to 
whom  custom,  fear  to  whom  fear,  honour  to  whom 
honour."  Rom.  xiii.  7.  Is  he  a  husband  ?  he  loves 
his  wife,  and  is  not  bitter  against  her.  Col.  iii.  19. 
Is  the  Christian  a  wife  ?  she  reverences  her  husband, 
Eph.  v.  33,  and  submits  herself  unto  him  as  is  fit  in 
the  Lord.  Col.  iii.  18.  Is  the  good  man  a  parent?  he 
loves  his  children,  and  trains  them  up  in  the  way 
they  should  go.  Is  he  a  child  ?  he  honours  and 
obeys  his  parents  in  the  Lord.  Is  he  a  pastor  ?  he 
loves  the  souls  of  his  people,  and  watches  for  them 
as  one  who  must  give  account,  and  labours  diligently 
for  their  spiritual  good.  And  is  the  good  man  one 
of  the  flock  ?  he  esteems  Ins  pastor  "  very  highly  in 
love  for  his  work's  sake." 

With  respect  to  himself,  the  good  man  denies 
himself  sinful  gratifications.  He  is  sober,  temperate, 
and  chaste.  He  "  keeps  under  his  body,  and  brings 
it  into  subjection ;"  he  "  mortifies  his  members, 
which  are  upon  the  earth,"  and  he  "  crucifies  the 
flesh,  with  the  affections  and  lusts;"  he  stands 
aloof  from  the  fashionable  vices  of  the  world.  You 
will  not  find  the  good  man  at  the  gaming  table,  in 
the  ball  room,  or  at  the  theatre.  The  Word  of  God 
directs  him,  "  Whatsoever  ye  do,  in  word  or  deed, 
do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  giving  thanks 
to  God  and  the  Father  by  him."  Col.  iii.  17.  And, 
under  the  influence  of  this  and  similar  instructions, 
he  stands  aloof  from  these  places  and  amusements. 
He  is  "  not  conformed  to  this  world,  but  transformed 
by  the  renewing  of  his  mind ;"  he  comes  out  from 
the  people  of  the  world,  and  is  separate ;    he  con- 


184  THE   GOOD  MAN. 

fesses  himself  a  stranger  and  pilgrim  on  the  earth, 
and  that  he  desires  a  better  country,  even  a  heavenly. 
His  conversation  is  in  heaven,  and  his  affections 
are  there,  set  on  things  above,  where  Christ  sitteth 
at  the  right  hand  of  God.  Such  are  the  temper  and 
conduct  of  the  good  man,  as  described  in  the  Word 
of  God. 

It  is  true  he  is  not  a  perfect  man ;  for  in  many 
things  he  offends,  and  comes  short  of  his  duty,  and 
his  best  services  are  imperfect.  But  this  grieves 
him,  and  causes  him  to  complain  with  the  apostle 
Paul,  "  The  good  that  I  would  I  do  not ;  but  the 
evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I  do.  I  find  a  law  that 
when  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with  me.  I 
see  another  law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the 
law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  to 
the  law  of  sin,  which  is  in  my  members.  0  wretched 
man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body 
of  this  death."  Rom.  vii.  19,  &c.  The  good  man  is 
not  satisfied,  as  some  professors  appear  to  be,  with 
just  so  much  religion  as  they  think  will  gain  them 
admission  into  heaven.  He  delights  in  the  service 
of  God,  and  he  desires  greater  conformity  to  him, 
more  zeal  in  his  service,  to  glorify  him  more,  and  to 
enjoy  more  intimate  communion  with  him.  And  he 
cannot  rest  satisfied  with  present  attainments  as 
long  as  he  comes  short  of  perfection  in  holiness, 
which  will  be  as  long  as  he  continues  in  the  body. 
He,  therefore,  with  Paul,  "forgetting  those  things 
which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those 
things  which  are  before,  presses  toward  the  mark 
for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus."  Phil.  hi.  13,  14. 


JOHN  m'dowell,  d.  d.  185 

Such  is  the  character  of  the  good  man,  as  drawn 
by  the  unerring  pen  of  inspiration. 

Who  of  us  possess  this  character  ?  Each  one  ought 
to  ask  himself,  is  this  my  character  ?  Are  any  ready 
to  say,  the  description  is  too  highly  wrought  ?  my 
character  will  not  stand  the  test  ?  In  reply,  I  ask, 
is  the  description  more  highly  wrought  than  the 
Word  of  God  authorizes  and  requires  ?  In  most  of 
the  description,  the  language,  and  in  a  considerable 
part  of  it,  the  very  words  of  Scripture  have  been 
used ;  and  by  the  Scriptures  we  must  be  tried,  and 
if  our  character  does  not  correspond  to  the  character 
of  the  good  man  as  there  drawn,  in  vain  do  we  hope 
that  we  are  the  people  of  God. 

Some  who  profess  religion  will  probably,  in  view 
of  this  discourse,  say,  either  the  description  which 
has  been  given  of  the  good  man  is  not  correct,  or  we 
have  deceived  ourselves.  It  would  not  be  strange 
if  the  latter  part  of  this  alternative  were  true,  with 
respect  to  some  professors ;  for,  doubtless,  many  pro- 
fess religion  who  are  strangers  to  its  reality.  Our 
Lord  said,  "  Strait  is  the  gate  and  narrow  is  the  way 
which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find 
it."  Matt.  vii.  14.  He  called  his  flock,  to  whom  it 
is  the  "  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  the  kingdom," 
a  "  little  flock."  Luke  xii.  32.  And  he  declared  that 
in  the  day  of  account,  many  will  say  to  him,  "  Lord, 
Lord,"  claiming  a  relation  to  him  as  his  people — to 
whom  he  will  say,  "  I  never  knew  you ;  depart  from 
me,  ye  that  work  iniquity."  Matt.  vii.  23. 

The  Scriptures  are  complete  and  fixed.  Nothing 
can  be  added  to  them  or  taken  from  them.  Many 
desire,  and  endeavour  to  persuade  themselves,  that 


186  THE   GOOD   MAN. 

they  are  less  strict  than  they  appear  to  be,  in  their 
obvious  meaning ;  or,  at  least,  that  their  strict  letter 
related  only  to  primitive  times — but  this  is  a  great 
and  dangerous  mistake.  The  way  to  heaven  is  the 
same  now  that  it  was  in  the  time  of  the  Scripture 
saints ;  and  if  we  ever  get  to  heaven,  we  must  tread 
in  the  steps  of  those  ancient  worthies,  who,  through 
faith  and  patience,  inherited  the  promises.  We  must 
come  up  to  the  scriptural  standard  of  true  piety,  in 
its  plain  and  obvious  meaning.  The  Scriptures  can- 
not be  changed  or  relaxed,  to  come  down  to  our  de- 
sires or  practice,  as  to  the  way  to  heaven.  Let  us 
make  sure  work  in  the  great  business  of  our  salva- 
tion. The  interests  of  our  immortal  souls  are  at 
stake,  and  to  make  a  mistake  in  regard  to  such 
interests,  would  be  inexpressibly  dreadful. 

The  Word  of  God  declares,  that  "  the  righteous 
are  scarcely,"  or  with  difficulty,  "  saved" — and  if  this 
be  so,  "  where,"  as  the  sacred  writer  adds,  "  shall  the 
ungodly  and  the  sinner  appear  ?"  If  the  good  man 
alone  can  enter  heaven — and  it  is  so  difficult,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  be  really  a  good  man ;  and  if  many 
who  profess  to  have  this  character,  and  manifest 
something  of  it,  are  deceived,  and  will  fail  at  last — 
where  shall  those  appear  who  have  no  pretensions 
to  scriptural  piety,  manifest  nothing  of  it,  and  care 
for  none  of  these  things  ?  That  they  are  in  the  way 
to  perdition  is  as  clear  as  a  sunbeam.  Let  such  be 
alarmed  at  their  state,  and  while  they  are  yet  pri- 
soners of  hope  be  induced,  without  delay,  to  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come ;  and  to  flee  by  faith  to  Christ, 
the  only  Saviour,  and  enter  into  the  narrow  way  of 
life,  in  which  the  good  man  walks. 


JOHN   MCDOWELL,    D.    D.  187 

And  let  all  who  entertain  a  hope  that  they  possess 
true  religion,  and  are  in  the  way  to  heaven,  carefully 
and  frequently  examine  themselves,  and  bring  their 
character  to  the  test  of  God's  unerring  word.  And 
while  they  examine  themselves,  let  them  offer  the 
prayer  of  the  Psalmist,  u  Let  me  not  be  ashamed  of 
my  hope.  Lord,  search  me,  and  try  me,  and  see  if 
there  be  any  evil  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the 
way  everlasting."  Amen. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD. 


W.  A.  SCOTT,  D.  D. 

PASTOR   OF   THE    FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,   NEW   ORLEANS,    LA. 


One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  that  will  I  seek  after ;  that  I  may 
dwell  in  the  House  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life,  to  behold  the 
beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  to  inquire  in  his  temple. — Psalm  xxvii.  4. 

The  sentiment  of  the  royal  Psalmist  in  this  verse, 
is  one  of  devoted  attachment  to  the  service  of  God. 
Many  are  the  passages  of  holy  Scripture  that  ex- 
press the  great  delight  which  the  pious  have  found 
in  the  ordinances  of  the  sanctuary.  Those  who 
have  long  heen  accustomed  to  the  blessings  of  Chris- 
tian worship,  and  those  who,  like  Gallio,  care  for  none 
of  these  things,  may  not  readily  appreciate  the  value 
of  the  Christian  Church,  neither  in  a  temporal  nor 
spiritual  point  of  view.  Because  the  kingdom  of  God 
cometh  not  with  observation,  they  see  it  not  at  all. 
Because  its  heavenly  influences  are  noiseless  as  the 
dew,  men  acknowledge  them  not,  although  every 
day  enjoying  them.  It  is  our  purpose  to  consider 
some  of  the  advantages  which  the  House  of  God 

CONFERS  UPON  SOCIETY. 
(188) 


w.  a.  scott,  d.  d.  189 

The  House  of  God  is  the  forerunner,  ally,  and 
supporter  of  the  best  forms  of  civilization. 

Civilization,  whatever  it  is,  in  modern  times  owes 
its  best  estate  to  Christianity.*  It  is  true  that  some 
ancient  nations,  as  the  Phoenicians,  Egyptians,  Greeks? 
Etrurians  and  Romans,  attained  to  considerable  emi- 
nence in  refinement,  in  elegance  of  manners,  and  to 
honourable  distinction  in  arts  and  arms  without  the 
Gospel.  But  it  is  also  true  that  historians  are  agreed 
— first,  that  much  of  their  knowledge,  their  philoso- 
phy, and  of  course  their  refinement,  was  handed 
down  to  them  from  their  ancestors,  that  is,  by  tradi- 
tion from  the  sons  of  Noah ;  from  whom  are  de- 
scended the  whole  human  race,  and  who  were  doubt- 
less instructed  in  the  religion  of  the  Bible  by  their 
pious  father.  This  opinion  is  supported  by  the  an- 
alogy that  is  to  be  found  in  their  respective  systems 
of  worship,  of  astronomy  and  of  mythology,  and  by 
their  own  united  testimony  down  to  Aristotle — that 
all  knowledge  was  derived  from  tradition.  Hence, 
to  become  learned  in  ancient  times,  it  was  necessary 
to  travel,  not  only  because  there  were  then  no  'printed 
books,  and  but  few  MSS,  and  literary  institutions 
were  scarce,  but  chiefly  that  the  traditions  of  all 
lands  might  be  picked  up.  Their  knowledge,  and 
even  their  philosophy,  was  to  be  found  in  the  songs 
of  the  Rhapsodists  and  the  proverbs  of  their  wise 
men.     But,  secondly,  historians  are  agreed  that  even 

*((  I  know  that  the  civilization  of  the  age  is  derived  from  Chris- 
tianity, that  the  institutions  of  this  country  are  instinct  with  the 
same  spirit,  and  that  it  pervades  the  laws  of  the  State,  as  it  does 
the  manners,  and,  I  trust,  the  hearts  of  the  people." — Gov.  Ham- 
mond, of  South  Carolina,  in  his  letter  of  the  Ath  Nov.  1844,  to 
the  Israelites  of  Charleston. 


190  THE    HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

Phoenicia,  Egypt  and  Greece,  as  also  Persia  and  Rome, 
were  not  civilized  without  religion.  Lord  Wood- 
houselee  expressly  declares  that  Greece  could  not  be 
civilized  until  the  religion  of  the  Titans  was  incor- 
porated with  that  of  the  Aborigines. *  It  was  not 
until  the  Pelasgi  and  the  other  tribes  of  Greece  were 
taught  to  be  religious,  that  laws  were  established 
among  them.  And  thirdly,  I  ask  any  candid  man 
whether  the  highest  refinement  ever  known  in  Greece 
or  Rome,  even  with  all  the  light  that  glimmered  upon 
them  by  tradition  from  the  temple  of  the  true  God 
at  Jerusalem,  can  be  compared  with  that  of  the  Gos- 
pel. I  have  not  the  time,  nor  is  it  necessary,  for  it 
has  often  been  done  by  able  hands,  to  draw  a  con- 
trast between  the  morals  of  the  purest  systems  of 
heathen  ethics  and  the  precepts  of  Christianity.  But 
I  leave  it  to  the  honesty  and  intelligence  of  any  well 
read  community  to  say  whether  Socrates  is  to  be 
compared  with  Jesus  Christ.  Nay,  Rousseau,  Jef- 
ferson, and  Paine  himself,  have  already  acknow- 
ledged that  Christianity,  in  the  sublimity  of  its  doc- 
trines, and  the  purity  of  its  precepts,  is  immeasur- 
ably superior  to  any  thing  known  to  heathen  philos- 
ophy. In  a  barbarous  or  savage  state,  passion  pre- 
dominates over  reason,  and  lust  over  conscience. 
The  animal  is  gratified  at  the  expense  of  the  intel- 
lectual nature  of  man.  But  when  this  order  is  re- 
versed, when  men  are  governed  by  an  enlightened 

* "  It  is  universally  allowed  that  from  the  period  of  those 
strangers  settling  among  them,  the  Greeks  assumed  a  new  cha- 
racter, and  exhibited  in  some  respects  the  manners  of  a  civilized 
nation.  The  dawnings  of  a  national  religion  began  to  appear,  for 
the  Titans  were  a  rcliyious  people." — Tytler's  Universal  History  ; 
vol.  i.  booh  i.  chap.  vi.  p.  52. 


W.    A.    SCOTT,    D.    D.  191 

conscience,  then  civilization  in  its  best  form  exists. 
But  no  such  a  state  as  this  is  found  without  the  Gos- 
pel. The  missionaries  sent  to  Greenland  laboured  ten 
years  without  success,  in  attempting  to  civilize  its  in- 
habitants without  the  Gospel.  Then  they  exhibited, 
with  all  the  eloquence  of  fervid  feeling,  the  doctrine 
of  a  Saviour  crucified,  with  an  effect  that  more  than 
realized  their  most  sanguine  expectations.  The  at- 
tention of  the  people  was  arrested,  they  received  the 
faith  that  'purifies  the  heart,  and  works  by  love  ;  and 
this  laid  the  foundation  for  civilization.  Schools 
among  our  own  Indians  have  always  failed,  except 
when  they  have  been  established  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Gospel. 

It  is  the  testimony  of  travellers  and  of  missiona- 
ries to  foreign  lands,  that  savages  cannot  be  civilized 
by  systems  of  mere  education.  It  is  true  religion, 
and  true  religion  only,  that  changes  the  heart;  and, 
until  the  heart  is  changed,  there  can  be  no  real  ele- 
vation of  character,  for  out  of  the  heart  are  the 
issues  of  life  ;  and,  until  it  is  changed  by  the  grace 
of  God,  it  is  the  hole  of  every  foul  spirit,  and  the 
cage  of  every  unclean  and  hateful  bird.  How  can 
sweetness  of  manners  mark  the  intercourse  of  so- 
ciety so  long  as  ferocious  passion  is  permitted  to 
rage  and  brutify  the  human  mind,  and  put  out  the 
light  of  truth,  and  hush  the  voice  of  conscience  ? 
Why  has  not  infidelity  supported  missionaries  in 
heathen  lands?  Why  have  infidels  not  civilized 
some  island  of  the  sea,  or  some  spot  of  the  globe  ? 
Why,  if  the  Gospel  is  not  necessary  as  the  fore- 
runner and  ally  of  civilization  ?  Let  them  point  to 
a  single  spot  of  earth  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  or 


192  THE   HOUSE   OP  GOD. 

America,  or  to  a  single  island  of  sea  or  ocean  that 
infidelity  has  civilized,  refined,  and  blest.  Let  them 
point  to  a  single  family,  neighbourhood,  town  or  in- 
dividual that  has  been  made  better,  that  has  been 
educated,  that  has  been  made  more  useful  and 
happy  by  infidelity.  The  infidels  of  England  and 
the  United  States  waited  until  Christian  missionaries 
had  partially  civilized  India,  and  then  they  sent 
thither  their  own  books.  The  cross  first  civilized 
the  poor  Hindoo — taught  him  to  read — then  the 
infidel  goes  and  endeavours  to  turn  his  reading  to 
wormwood.  Christianity  opens  the  fountain  of 
knowledge,  then  infidelity  attempts  to  turn  it  all  to 
poison.  The  only  way  to  civilize  and  to  refine,  and 
to  give  permanent  elevation  to  any  community,  is  to 
give  it  the  Gospel.  Erect  the  pulpit,  and  around  it 
schools  and  benevolent  institutions  will  spring  up, 
as  the  thousand  lesser  stars  follow  the  evening  star. 
The  accompaniments  of  the  sanctuary  are  the 
living  ministry,  the  preached  gospel,  the  Sabbath, 
the  ordinances  of  religion,  and  the  blessings  of  edu- 
cation. Schools,  acadamies,  and  colleges  owe  their 
very  existence  to  the  House  of  God.  Ministers  of 
religion  are  entrusted  with  the  keys  of  the  kingdom 
of  knowledge,  not  to  exercise  despotism  over  the 
minds  of  men,  but  to  impart  truth  for  their  re- 
demption from  ignorance  and  vice.  As  a  class,  the 
clergy  have  ever  been  the  first  great  leaders  in  the 
work  of  education.  Harvard  University  owes  its 
foundation  to  the  dying  munificence  of  an  humble 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  who  landed  on  the  shores  of 
America,  but  to  lay  his  bones  in  its  dust.*     The 

*  Everett's  Orations. 


TV.    A.    SCOTT,   D.    D.  193 

great  reform  in  our  prisons,  which  has  accomplished 
wonders  of  philanthropy  and  mercy,  and  made  the 
penitentiaries  of  America  the  model  of  the  penal 
institutions  of  the  world,  had  its  origin  in  the  visit 
of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  with  his  Bible  in  his 
hand,  to  the  convict's  cell.  The  missionary  enter- 
prise, the  glory  of  our  age,  is  an  offspring  of  the 
house  of  God.  From  the  sanctuary  the  champions 
of  truth  have  gone  forth  to  the  heathen,  conquering 
and  to  conquer,  beneath 

"  The  great  ensign  of  the  Messiah 
Aloft  by  angels  borne,  their  sign 
In  heaven." 

A  large  portion  of  the  literary  institutions  of  the 
world  are  under  the  influence  of  the  clergy.  This 
is  not  strange.  They  are  in  fact,  and  by  profession, 
the  friends  of  knowledge  and  of  intellectual  im- 
provement. Their  religion  is  a  system  of  light.  In 
it  is  no  darkness  at  all.  It  is  their  daily  office  to 
pour  the  light  of  mind  and  of  the  glorious  Gospel 
upon  the  chaos  of  human  intellect.  Upon  them, 
therefore,  chiefly  rests  the  responsibility  of  directing 
the  education  of  youth.  As  a  class,  they  create  and 
circulate  a  larger  portion  of  our  literature  than  any 
other  profession.*     In  judging  of  the  literary  excel- 

*  No  disparagement  of  the  other  learned  professions  is  intended 
here.  There  are  learned  and  good  men  in  all  professions  and  in 
all  denominations.  There  are  literary  men,  and  friends  of  general 
education,  who  are  not  even  pious  men.  But,  as  a  class  of  men, 
clergymen  are  the  educators  of  our  country.  In  nine  cases  out 
of  ten,  those  that  are  eminent  as  teachers  and  as  friends  of  educa- 
tion, who  are  not  in  the  ministry,  are  the  sons  or  the  pupils  of 
clergymen.     It  is  too  rarely  the  case  that  men  qualified  to  be  the 

14 


194  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

lence  of  the  performances  of  clergymen,  it  ought  to 
be  remembered  that  they  appear  before  the  public 
much  oftener,  and  with  less  time  to  prepare  their 
discourses,  than  any  other  class  of  public  speakers. 
Who  but  clergymen  come  before  an  intelligent  audi- 
ence two  or  three  times  a  week,  from  year  to  year, 
with  original  discourses  ?  and  that,  too,  usually 
without  any  change  of  circumstances,  without  any 
relief  from  the  arduous  duties  of  pastoral  charges, 
and  without  the  rivalry  of  the  bar,  or  the  excite- 
ment of  the  halls  of  legislation.  No  one  perform- 
ance of  any  clergyman  should  be  regarded  as  a  test 
of  his  abilities,  or  of  his  literary  attainments.  It  is 
a  curious,  but  a  truly  philosophical  fact,  that  the 
more  a  clergyman  feeds  his  people  with  knowledge, 
the  more  they  require  of  him.  Sometimes,  indeed, 
the  people  are  like  Pharaoh's  task  masters ;  they  re- 
quire the  full  tale  of  brides,  without  furnishing  straw. 
They  require  him  to  make  great  intellectual  efforts 
every  Sabbath,  without  allowing  him  either  books  to 
read,  or  time  to  study.  After  all  due  allowance  is 
made  for  prosing  sermons  and  quackery  in  the  pul- 
pit, the  clergy  as  a  profession,  are  men  of  mind,  of 
intelligence,  and  learning.  The  ablest  constitutional 
lawyer  of  America  has  recently  pronounced  their 
eulogy  in  the  celebrated  Girard  case,  and  professor 
Vethak  has  given  them  and  the  learned  professions 
their  proper  place  in  the  productive  capital  of  the 
nation.     Their  lips  keep  knowledge ;  works  of  cha- 

instructors  of  youth,  are  willing  to  make  the  sacrifices  required 
of  the  successful  teacher.  Learned  men  of  the  secular  professions 
generally  prefer  the  pleasures  of  literature,  or  the  pursuits  of 
wealth  or  ambition. 


W.    A.    SCOTT,   D.    D.  195 

rity  are  their  robes  of  state ;  mind  is  their  empire ; 
the  pen  is  their  sceptre ;  eternal  truth  is  their  throne. 

The  Gospel  is  not  only  the  forerunner  and  ally 
of  civilization,  but  its  chief  supporter. 

Without  the  House  of  God,  we  shall  go  back  to 
the  skins,  and  acorns,  and  idols  of  our  ancestors. 
Some  two  thousand  years  ago  our  forefathers  were 
painted  savages,  wandering  on  the  shores  of  the  Ger- 
man ocean,  drinking  their  beer  out  of  human  skulls, 
and  worshipping  Wodin  and  Thor.  And  what 
makes  the  Anglo  Saxon  of  the  nineteenth  century 
to  differ  from  the  ancient  Briton  ?  The  same  that 
makes  Christian  nations  differ  from  Heathen  nations 
— that  makes  Tahiti  with  the  Gospel,  to  differ  from 
Tahiti  icitliout  the  Gospel.  Christianity  poured  its 
light  into  the  minds  of  Alfred  and  Charlemagne,  and 
thence  the  civilization  of  Europe.  The  Bible  has 
incorporated  itself  into  the  laws,  languages,  institu- 
tions, and  philosophy  of  Christendom.  Arts  and 
sciences,  jurisprudence,  commerce,  and  national  po- 
litics, owe  their  present  advanced  state  to  the  Bible. 
Hume  has  ascribed  the  civil  liberty  of  England  to 
the  Puritans.  Mcintosh  says  that  the  doctrine  of 
Justification  by  Faith,  the  preaching  of  which  by 
Luther  produced  the  great  reformation  from  Popery, 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  civil  and  religious  lib- 
erty.* So  emphatically  is  man's  existence  and  hap- 
piness summed  up  in  his  religion,  that  the  history 
of  the  religions  of  various  nations  is  the  history  of 
their  manners,  literature,  government  and  philoso- 

*  History  of  England,  Henry  VIII.  ch.  is.  "  A  principle  which 
is  the  basis  of  all  pure  ethics,  the  cement  of  the  eternal  alliance 
between  morality  and  religion,"  &c.  p.  218. 


196  THE    HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

phy.  The  philosophy  of  literature  and  of  history  is 
nothing  more — can  be  nothing  less — than  the  philo- 
sophy of  the  various  systems  of  religious  worship  that 
have  quickened  and  formed,  or  degraded  and  fettered 
the  inhabitants  of  the  world. 

Without  the  House  of  God — without  the  Sabbath 
and  a  regular  living  ministry  of  the  Word  of  God,  we 
shall  go  back  to  heathenism.  We  cannot  stand  still. 
Motion  is  the  law  of  our  nature.  The  amount  of 
knowledge  does  not  seem  at  any  time  to  be  greatly 
augmented.  It  changes  places,  and  passes  from  one 
generation  to  another,  but  does  not  seem  to  be 
greatly  increased.  Its  progress  is  rather  that  of  a 
door  on  hinges,  backwards  and  forwards,  now  in  the 
East,  now  in  the  West,  and  anon  to  the  East.  Ter- 
ritories once  republican  are  now  sunk  into  the  most 
degraded  despotism.  Territories  once  traversed  by 
the  feet  of  the  blessed  Saviour  and  his  Apostles,  have 
run  back  to  heathenism,  and  why  ?  Because  their 
Candlesticks,  in  the  language  of  Holy  Writ,  their 
Churches,  have  been  removed  out  of  their  places. 
When  the  sanctuary  declines,  all  that  pertains  to  the 
ennobling  of  man  declines.  Pull  down  all  our  houses 
of  worship,  and  let  the  church  going  bell  utter  no 
more  hints  of  salvation  through  the  Cross,  and  there 
will  follow  a  train  of  litigations,  and  bankruptcies, 
and  imprisonments,  and  frauds,  and  divorces,  and 
murders,  that  no  human  power  can  control.  A  pal- 
pable darkness  will  come  over  the  land,  and  gross 
darkness  fill  upon  the  people.  Refinement  will  be- 
come sensuality — low  and  vulgar  vices,  clownishness 
of  manners,  coarseness  of  attire,  and  depravit}^  of 
mind  and  morals,  will  complete  the  history.     Sepa- 


W.    A.    SCOTT,    D.  D.  197 

rate  civilization  from  the  Gospel,  and  it  will  degen- 
erate into  heathenism.  Separate  institutions  of 
learning  and  benevolence  from  the  higher  institutions 
of  religion,  and  they  will  perish,  sure  as  the  frosts 
of  autumn  strip  the  forests  of  their  foliage.  Reli- 
gion, science,  and  benevolence,  are  inseparably  con- 
nected with  the  sanctuary. 

II.  The  House  of  God  increases  the  value  of 
all  useful  property.  This  may  be  a  novel  propo- 
sition, but  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is  either  fanciful 
or  incapable  of  proof.  It  is  a  proposition  sustained 
by  the  preceding,  thus :  civilization  is  necessary  to 
give  property  its  greatest  value :  the  Gospel  is  the 
forerunner,  pre-requisite,  ally,  and  supporter  of  civil- 
ization :  ergo,  &c.  The  proposition  is  not  only  ca- 
pable of  demonstration,  but  is  sustained  by  numerous 
facts.  Time  allows,  however,  of  reference  to  but  a 
few.  Men  are  so  prone  to  think  of  religion  not  at 
all,  or  to  think  of  it  as  a  mere  abstraction,  a  thing 
altogether  spiritual,  and  as  having  to  do  altogether 
with  the  next  world,  that  they  forget  its  influence 
upon  the  present.  They  remember  not  the  words 
of  an  Apostle  who  has  told  us  that  godliness  with 
contentment  is  great  gain,  having  the  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  lohich  is  to  come.  Men, 
too,  are  so  apt  to  regard  what  they  give  to  the  sup- 
port of  religious  institutions,  as  either  thrown  away 
or  bestowed  in  charity,  that  they  do  not  seem  to  con- 
sider for  a  moment  that  for  the  value  of  their  pro- 
perty they  are  greatly  indebted  to  the  Bible.  This, 
however,  is  a  proposition  so  clearly  established  by 
facts,  that  the  dullest  apprehension  must  admit  it 
when  it  is  properly  considered.     Let  any  one  ac- 


198 


THE    HOUSE    OF   GOD. 


quainted  with  the  history  of  the  Jews  reflect,  and 
see  if  property  was  not  worth  more  when  David  and 
Solomon  reigned  in  Jerusalem,  than  during  the  reign 
of  the  unprincipled  Ahab.  The  reason  is  obvious 
enough.  In  the  reign  of  David  and  Solomon,  reli- 
gious institutions  were  honoured,  and  moral  influ- 
ence restrained  the  depravity  of  men,  so  that  their 
rights,  persons,  and  property  were  held  sacred. — 
While  in  the  reign  of  Ahab,  a  false  religion  was  sub- 
stituted for  the  true,  and  thus  moral  restraint  was 
generally  removed  from  the  public  mind.  The  vine- 
yard of  Naboth  was  not  worth  half  so  much  under 
Ahab,  as  when  Solomon  was  on  the  throne  of  Israel. 
Ahab  was  a  wicked,  avaricious,  and  cruel  prince; 
under  his  administration  every  thing  was  in  confu- 
sion, uncertainty,  and  peril.  Solomon  feared  God, 
and  his  reign  was  just,  and  good,  and  prosperous. 
What  was  the  value  of  Lot's  house  in  Sodom,  though 
it  was,  perhaps,  built  of  the  most  costly  materials, 
decorated  with  all  the  art,  and  furnished  with  all  the 
elegancies  of  his  age,  yet  subject  to  the  invasion  of 
a  most  depraved  and  licentious  community,  com- 
pared with  the  humble  tent  of  Abraham  under  the 
oak  in  the  plains  of  Mamre.  Lot's  neighbours  were 
not  under  the  influence  of  religion.  Abraham's  peo- 
ple were.  A  sense  of  insecurity  depreciates  the  value 
of  property.  Thus  in  the  time  of  war,  when  our 
coasts  are  ravaged,  our  cities  plundered,  our  houses 
burned,  and  our  fields  laid  waste,  real  estate  falls  far 
below  its  intrinsic  value.  During  the  invasion  of 
Louisiana  in  1814-15,  land  and  houses  were  worth 
scarcely  a  tithe  of  what  they  were  after  the  treaty 
of  peace.     In  France,  during  the  Reign  of  Terror, 


W.    A.    SCOTT,    D.    D.  199 

property  sunk  far  below  its  ordinary  value.  And 
why  was  this  ?  Because  during  the  reign  of  terror, 
there  was  no  security  afforded  by  the  government  to 
life  and  property.  And  there  was  no  security  to  life 
and  property,  because  all  religious  institutions  had 
been  annihilated,  and  infidelity,  cruel  and  licentious, 
had  been  set  up  in  their  stead,  and  as  a  necessary 
consequence,  religious  restraints  were  taken  from 
the  minds  of  the  people.  Men  fearing  not  God,  re- 
garded not  their  fellow  men.  Not  being  devout  to- 
wards God,  they  were  not  just  and  merciful  towards 
their  neighbours,  nor  did  the  public  mind  become 
settled,  and  property  and  life  secure,  till  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  the  forms  of  religion,  and  of  law.  Let  a 
false  religion  be  substituted  among  us  for  the  true, 
let  rampant  and  licentious  infidelity  prevail,  let  all 
the  hallowed  influences  of  the  sanctuary  be  with- 
drawn from  off  the  public  mind,  and  how  much 
would  your  houses  and  lands  decline  in  value !  Take 
away  all  the  restraints  of  our  religious  institutions, 
and  what  stability  would  remain  ?  Who  would  be 
willing  to  risk  his  life  and  property  in  a  community 
void  of  all  moral  restraints? 

It  is  said  that  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  soil 
of  Turkey  is  greater  than  that  of  America;  and 
yet  the  poorest  acre  of  these  United  States  is  worth 
more  than  five  of  the  richest  land  in  Turkey.  And 
why  ?  because  here  you  are  protected  in  your  rights 
by  a  vigorous  conscience  in  the  body  politic ;  while 
in  Turkey,  you  are  constantly  exposed  to  lawless 
rapacity,  your  property  liable  to  be  confiscated  at 
any  moment,  and  you  yourself  to  perish  by  the  hand 
of  violence.     Remove  the  House  of  God  and  its  in- 


200  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

stitutions  from  the  United  States,  and  we  shall  be- 
come as  ferocious  as  the  Turk.  It  is  admitted  that 
the  Mahommedan  faith  has  destroyed  the  agricul- 
ture of  Persia ;  and  Chardin  thinks  that  if  the  Turks 
were  to  inhabit  that  country,  it  would  soon  be  more 
impoverished  than  it  is.  Persia  was  once  renowned 
for  its  fertility ;  but  even  the  temporal  prosperity 

OF  A  NATION  DEPENDS  UPON  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  ITS  RE- 
LIGION.* 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  nowhere,  except  where 
Christianity  prevails,  do  we  find  those  partnerships 
in  trade  and  commerce,  so  indispensable  to  give  pro- 
perty its  greatest  value.  Travellers  and  missionaries 
inform  us,  that  in  pagan  countries  there  are  no  asso- 
ciations for  commerce  and  trade,  for  exchange,  for 
banking,  and  for  benevolent  purposes.  To  use  the 
language  of  another :  "  Why  cannot  heathens,  as 
well  as  Christians,  combine  their  wealth,  so  as  to 
give  it  greater  value,  by  giving  it  greater  power  of  ac- 
cumulation ?  It  is  because  their  religion,  or  rather  the 
want  of  true  religion,  forbids  the  exercise  of  mutual 
confidence,  creating  universal  distrust,  and  making 
every  man  an  iceberg  to  his  neighbour.  Hence  the  rea- 
son why  their  resources  are  crippled,  and  the  public 
mind  is  stagnant.  But  let  the  Christian  Pulpit  be 
planted  there,  and  the  truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  pervade 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  people,  and  the  now  dead 
mass  would  at  once  exhibit  signs  of  life,  and  put  on 
such  an  aspect  of  enterprise  and  prosperity  as  Heath- 
enism never  saw,  and  can  never  produce."  So  true  is 
this  connection,  that  a  distinguished  instructor  was  ac- 
customed to  say  to  his  pupils,  "  Give  me  the  religion 
*  Ancient  History,  Vol.  III.  p.  32. 


W.   A.    SCOTT,   D.    D.  201 

of  a  country,  and  I  will  tell  you  all  the  rest ;" — the 
kind  of  religion  chiefly  determines  the  language,  litera- 
ture and  characteristics  of  the  people — whether  they 
are  torpid  or  active — ignorant  or  enlightened — bond 
or  free.  An  instance  is  cited  in  a  discourse  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Clarke,  of  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  which  will  illus- 
trate the  point  in  hand.  I  give  it  in  his  own  words : 
"  In  one  of  the  towns  in  a  neighbouring  county,  the 
people  voluntarily  deprived  themselves  of  a  preached 
Gospel  for  several  years,  till  the  difference  between 
them  and  the  adjoining  towns,  in  want  of  thrift  and 
prosperity,  became  proverbial,  and  till  they  them- 
selves were  convinced,  that,  in  forsaking  the  Pulpit, 
they  had  forsaken  their  own  mercies.  At  length, 
they  repaired  their  weather-beaten  and  almost  ruined 
church,  and  settled  a  devoted  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel, with  an  effect  so  marked  on  the  enterprise  of 
the  people,  that  one  of  their  most  intelligent  men 
remarked,  but  a  few  weeks  since,  that  their  farms 
had  increased  fifty  per  cent,  in  value,  and  that  an 
entirely  new  aspect  had  been  put  on  the  dweUings, 
as  well  as  on  the  spirit  of  the  people."* 

The  proposition  is,  that  the  House  of  God  increas- 
es THE  VALUE  OF  USEFUL  PEOPERTT.     The  proof  is  tllUS  : 

First,  security  of  life  and  property  is  necessary  to  give 
property  its  highest  value  :  moral  restraints  are  ne- 
cessary to  give  security  to  life  and  property :  and 
moral  restraints  are  produced  and  maintained  only 
by  the  Gospel.  And,  secondly,  it  is  in  Christendom 
alone  that  trade  and  commerce  are  carried  on  with 
the  enterprise  of  combined  wealth  and  mutual  confi- 
dence.    Almost  the  only  government  known  among 

*  Clarke,  in  National  Preacher. 


202  THE   HOUSE   OF  GOD. 

men  without  the  Gospel  is  tyranny.  The  ability  of 
heathen  statesmen  consists  in  knowing  how  to  de- 
ceive others  by  hypocrisy,  fraud,  perfidy,  and  per- 
jury. Where  the  House  of  God  is  not,  there  is  no 
bond  of  union  between  man  and  man.  True  hon- 
our, humanity,  justice  and  commercial  enterprise  are 
promoted  by  the  principles  of  the  Bible.  The  Eng- 
lish government  supports  missions  partly  for  the 
sake  of  extending  her  commerce.  Even  the  vicinity 
of  houses  of  Christian  worship,  in  several  well  known 
instances  in  some  of  our  largest  cities,  has  greatly  en- 
hanced the  value  of  property — first,  because  of  the 
convenience  of  being  near  the  House  of  the  Lord, 
and  secondly,  because  a  church-going  people  are  good 
tenants,  and  thirdly,  because  the  influence  of  the 
House  of  God  changes  the  character  of  the  popula- 
tion in  its  neighbourhood.  Corrupt,  licentious,  pro- 
fane, Sabbath-breaking  communities  have  become, 
through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  decent,  sober, 
intelligent,  industrious,  pious  and  well-to-do  in  the 
world. 

III.  The  House  of  God  is  not  so  expensive  as 
the  synagogues  of  Satan.  This  is  a  plain  proposi- 
tion, and  like  the  two  preceding,  it  addresses  itself 
to  men's  temporal  interests.  It  is  simply  this : — 
That  vice  coats  more  than  virtue.  It  costs  more  to 
support  a  drunkard  than  a  sober  man ;  more  to  sus- 
tain the  licentious  than  the  chaste ;  more  to  secure 
and  convict  a  criminal  than  it  would  have  cost  to 
have  prevented  him  from  becoming  a  criminal  by 
placing  him  under  religious  influence.  Sabbath- 
breaking  is  an  expensive  vice.  One  Sabbath  spent 
in  idleness  and  dissipation — in  neglecting  the  sane- 


W.   A.   SCOTT,   D.  D.  203 

tuary,  costs  more  than  five  days  spent  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  appropriate  duties.  Which  costs  the 
most,  to  lounge  at  the  corner  of  the  streets,  bet  on 
elections,  ride  to  the  country,  attend  the  military 
parade  or  the  horse  race  on  the  Sabbath,  drink  at 
the  Exchange,  and  then  to  the  theatre  at  night,  or 
to  worship  God  in  his  Holy  Temple  ?  Which  costs 
the  most,  livery  stable  bills,  Sunday  dinners,  oyster 
suppers,  opera  tickets,  masquerade  balls  and  coffee 
house  indulgences,  or  attendance  upon  the  sanctu- 
ary ?  Which  is  best,  to  spend  the  Sabbath  in  idle- 
ness or  in  dissipation,  and  resume  business  Monday 
morning,  with  an  empty  purse,  and  languid  spirits, 
and  a  heart  aching  under  the  remorse  of  conscience  ? 
or  to  lay  aside  business  affairs  at  a  proper  hour  Satur- 
day evening,  close  the  ledger  and  lock  the  desk,  and 
shut  the  world  up  in  the  counting  room,  and  relax 
the  energies  of  the  week  in  the  social  endearments 
of  the  family — 

"  The  only  bliss  that  has  survived  the  fall  ?" 

Rise  early  Sabbath  morn,  and  begin  the  day  with  its 
appropriate  duties,  and  then  to  the  Sabbath  school, 
to  swim  in  the  smiles  and  glad  faces  of  •  earth's 
brightest  similitudes  of  Heaven — little  children — and 
then  mingle  with  the  people  of  God,  who  keep  holy 
time,  and  send  up  the  voice  of  supplication  and  the 
shout  of  praise  to  the  Most  High — and  then  melted, 
softened,  awed,  refined,  better  fitted  for  society  and 
for  social  and  civil  duties,  return  home  to  the  Sab- 
bath collation — and  Monday,  with  health  repaired, 
spirits  refreshed,  and  the  bright  sunshine  of  the  soul, 
a  good  conscience,  which  is  a  "  continual  feast,"  be- 


204  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

gin  the  labours  of  the  week  ?     I  speak  as  unto  wise 
men,  judge  ye. 

IV.  The  House  of  God  wields  the  only  power 

TO  REFORM  THE  HEARTS  AND  LIVES  OF  MEN.  Christi- 
anity is  the  only  preventive  of  crime.  We  are  aware 
that  we  live  in  an  age  of  excitement  and  of  bold  ex- 
periments. The  spirit  of  the  day  is  restless,  inno- 
vating. We  have  numberless  forced  systems  of 
economy,  of  politics,  of  morals  and  of  education. 
One  cries,  lo  here  !  another,  lo  there !  Each  cries 
out,  /  have  found  it — /  have  found  it,  and  a  long 
line  of  Esqrs.,  Genls.,  D.  D's,  L.  L.  D's,  and  learned 
professors  echo  the  lying  sound.  But,  in  a  few  days, 
like  their  predecessors,  they  in  their  turn  give  place 
to  seven  other  ill  favoured  and  lean  kine,  that  "eat 
up  the  fat  fleshed  and  well  flavoured."  And,  like  the 
flies  in  the  fable,  each  succeeding  swarm  of  quacks, 
strolling  lecturers  and  reckless  innovators,  is  more 
greedy  than  the  first — more  impudent  and  more  ig- 
norant. But  with  all  the  nostrums  which  have  in 
their  turn  been  promulgated  as  certain  specifics  for 
all  our  civil  and  moral  diseases — such  as  those  effi- 
cacious Protean  balsams,  cordials,  pills  and  sudorifics, 
which  are  infallible  cures,  (or  if  no  cure,  no  pay,)  for 
the  hepatitis,  consumption,  fever,  and  gout,  for  old 
men,  young  men,  maidens,  and  children — is  it  not 
true  of  us,  as  Pope  said,  turning  from  his  doctor : 
"Alas!  clear  sir,  I  am  dying  every  day  of  the  most 
favourable  symptoms." 

Our  state  pharmacopolists,  each  one  like  a  scribe 
ivell  instructed,  can  tell  why  the  currency  was  de- 
ranged, why  commercial  credit  depreciated,  and  why 
the  times  are  hard,  and  show  the  errors  of  all  past 


"W.    A.    SCOTT,    D.   D.  205 

administrations,  and  if  the  people  would  only  put 
him  and  his  party  in  power,  he  would  turn  the  very 
stones  into  gold.  On  the  one  hand,  some  savans 
have  asserted  that  nature  has  endowed  all  the  tribes 
of  the  earth  with  precisely  the  same  dispositions, 
and  fitted  them  in  their  turn  for  the  same  sort  of 
institutions,  and  that  there  is  no  reformation  to  be 
expected — no  elevation  to  be  hoped  for.  That  all 
our  inventions  and  discoveries  in  government  and  in 
science,  are  but  the  recovery  of  what  we  have  lost — 
and  that,  in  short,  we  are  doomed  to  float  about  in 
eddies,  and  fly  round  in  circles — but  that  there  is  no 
progress,  no  elevation,  no  redemption  for  our  race.* 

Others  teach  that  crime  is  owing  entirely  to  the 
vagueness  of  accident — that  vice  and  virtue  are 
essentially  nothing  but  the  result  of  chance — the 
"rouge  et  noir"  of  life;  and  consequently,  there  is 
no  redemption  from  the  bondage  of  vice,  but  to  wait 
the  "fortunate  concurrence  of  fortuitous  atoms." 

Others  say  law  is  the  sole  cause  of  crime — that 
the  very  fact  that  there  are  laws,  which  are  intended 
to  debar  men  from  crime,  begets  a  disposition  to  vio- 
late them — that  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin  ; 
that  is  to  say,  because  there  are  balustrades  around 
the  pit,  to  keep  men  from  falling  into  it,  men  will 
plunge  into  it  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  getting  over 
the  obstructions  put  in  their  way  for  their  good. 
"The  danger's  self  is  lure  alone,"  and  that,  conse- 
quently, the  only  way  to  prevent  crime  is  to  annul 
all  the  existing  laws  of  society,  remove  all  restraints, 
reduce  all  to  a  common  chaos,  to  a  community  of 
rights,  and  of  wives,  and  of  goods.     But  the  history 

*  M.  Fournier  de  Dejon,  author  of  the  Phalansterian  sect. 


206  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

of  mankind  abundantly  proves  that  man  is  the  crea- 
ture of  laws  ;  that  no  society  can  exist  without  laws, 
not  even  a  community  of  robbers,  they  must  have  a 
common  bond  of  union-^-a  code  of  rules.  Laws  are 
essential  to  our  individual  and  social  existence,  and 
if  we  have  no  other,  we  must  submit  to  the  dominion 
of  passion ;  and  then  we  should  see  again  the  bloody 
days  of  Caligula,  and  of  Nero,  and  of  Robespierre. 

But  again,  others  assert  that  all  crime  is  the  result 
of  education,  that  men  are  vicious  because  they 
have  been  improperly  instructed ;  and  that,  there- 
fore, all  that  we  have  to  do  is  to  reform  our  system 
of  education,  for  that  education  is  competent  to  heal 
all  our  maladies,  and  to  exhibit  man 

"  Full  orb'd  in  his  round  of  rays  complete." 

This  system  is  called  the  Hylopathian,  or  the 
Anaximandrian,  from  its  author,  Anaximander,  one 
of  the  earliest  Greek  Atheists.  He  taught  that 
education  is  the  creator  of  all  things ;  that  all  things, 
even  life  and  understanding,  are  educated  out  of  mat- 
ter, and  are  to  be  considered  as  nothing  more  than 
the  passions  .and  affections  of  matter ;  that  all  life 
and  understanding  are  the  products  of  these  qualified 
atoms,  hot  and  cold,  moist  and  dry.  Anaxagoras 
taught,  at  a  later  period,  the  same  system,  with  this 
exception :  he  held  to  an  uncreated  mind.*  This 
system,  in  substance,  has  been  frequently  advanced, 
and  has  even  now  its  warm  advocates.  But  all 
these  systems  fail  to  give  life  to  man's  moral  powers. 
They  all  fall  short  of  reforming  his  heart  and  regu- 
lating his  life.     They  do  not  give  the  true  cause  of 

*  Cudworth's  Int.  Sys.  Vol.  I.  p.  41. 


W.   A.    SCOTT,   D.  D.  207 

crime,  and  consequently  they  fail  to  afford  any  ade- 
quate remedy.  They  undertake  to  build  without  a 
foundation.  They  daub  with  untempered  mortar. 
The  spring-head  of  all  crime  is  that  black  spot  which 
the  Arabs  say  is  in  every  man's  heart  by  nature, 
which  is  very  little  at  first,  but  at  last  spreads  all 
over  him — original  sin — corruption  of  nature — a 
heart  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately 
wicked.  And  as  is  the  heart,  so  also  is  the  life. 
Out  of  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  adulteries, 
murders  and  seditions.  The  heart  is  the  fountain 
of  influences.  Out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life.  The 
only  effectual  remedy  for  the  disorders  of  society  is 
to  change  the  heart — to  make  the  tree  good,  and 
then  the  fruit  will  be  good.  It  can  be  proved  most 
conclusively,  but  for  the  want  of  time  the  proof  is 
here  omitted,  from  the  history  of  Prussia  and  France, 
that  intelligence,  mere  education,  does  not  prevent 
crime  ;  "  that  knowledge  is  power"  indeed,  but  that 
it  may  be  power  to  do  evil  as  well  as  good.  The 
more  intelligence,  the  more  power  to  serve  the  pas- 
sions and  the  appetites.  Knowledge  awakens  new 
desires  and  developes  new  and  strong  passions,  and 
must  then  of  necessity  become  the  instrument  of 
their  gratification. 

The  history  of  Italy  in  the  dark  ages  proves  this 
fact.  Italy  was  then  the  centre  of  civilization,  the 
only  illumined  spot  on  the  globe,  and  Italy  was  then, 
also,  the  scene  of  the  darkest  crimes  on  the  catalogue 
of  the  human  race.  The  same  may  be  truly  said  of 
England  at  this  moment.  The  most  enlightened 
and  greatest  nation  under  heaven ;  yet,  considering 
her  moral  and  religious  institutions,  without  a  ques- 


208  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

tion  the  most  haughty,  ambitious,  and  wicked  nation 
on  earth.  Education,  as  it  is  used,  is  a  savour  of 
life  unto  life,  or  of  death  unto  death.  The  sources 
of  power  and  pleasure,  of  dignity  and  wealth,  may 
also  become  the  sources  of  crime  and  vice,  degra- 
dation and  poverty.  We  practically  acknowledge 
this  when  we  make  laws  to  keep  our  servants  in 
ignorance,  lest  they  should  be  wise  to  do  evil.  The 
stream  of  civilization  too  nearly  resembles  that 
mysterious  river,  whose  waves  both  fold  the  croco- 
dile and  carry  the  fertilizing  loam  to  the  same 
shore.  Let  an  evangelical  pulpit  sanctify  our  lite- 
rature, and  education  will  be  the  handmaid  and  sup- 
porter of  morals.  An  appeal  to  criminal  statistics — 
to  figures  that  cannot  lie — shows  most  conclusively, 
that  while  mere  science  does  not  prevent  crime,  but 
rather  increases  misdemeanors  and  felons ;  that,  on 
the  other  hand,  religious  knowledge,  education  on 
Christian  principles,  literature  sanctified  by  the  pul- 
pit, does  prevent  crime.  The  experiment  made  by 
the  Prussian  Government — the  history  of  Sabbath 
schools — the  statistics  of  the  United  States  and  of 
Scotland,  compared  with  England  and  Ireland,  all 

Show  that  RELIGIOUS  KNOWLEDGE  IS  A  PREVENTIVE  OF 
CRIME. 

There  is  no  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth  so 
much  affected  by  the  facts  here  alluded  to  as  our 
own.  In  our  government  the  people  are  the  sove- 
reign. They  rule — they  make  our  legislators  and 
our  rulers.  Consequently,  if  we  should  have  wise 
and  virtuous  statesmen,  we  must  have  wise  and  vir- 
tuous citizens.  Let  the  Bible,  through  the  pulpit, 
and  the  school-room,   and  the  press,  give  tone  to 


W.   A.   SCOT?,   D.   D.  209 

public  sentiment,  and  we  shall  not  have  legislators, 
and  senators,  and  public  functionaries,  that  can  pro- 
fane the  day  and  the  name  of  God.  Let  public 
sentiment  be  purified  and  elevated,  and  our  cities 
would  be  rid  of  those  hundreds  of  high-ways  to  hell 
that  are  to  be  found  along  our  streets,  and  at  almost 
every  corner.  Let  the  influence  of  the  pulpit  be 
felt,  and  our  land  would  have  a  Sabbath,  and  vice 
would  be  put  to  shame  and  confusion.  The  fearful 
responsibility  of  our  national  sins  is  to  be  resolved 
back  upon  the  sovereign  people.  Why  has  not  the 
United  States,  why  has  not  England,  produced  a 
Handel,  a  Haydn,  a  Weber,  or  a  Beethoven  ?  Be- 
cause the  public  have  little  taste  for  music.  Their 
ear  is  only  for  the  sound  of  the  hammer  and  the 
thundering  of  the  steam  engine  ;  while  in  Germany 
every  man  is  a  musician,  and  every  family  is  an  or- 
chestra. Why  did  England  produce,  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  her  Walton,  Castell,  Usher,  Selden, 
Lightfoot,  and  Pococke  ?  Then  England  was  per- 
vaded with  the  spirit  of  biblical  inquiry  and  theo- 
logical investigation.  Why  has  France  produced  La 
Place,  La  Land,  and  La  Grange  ?  France  honours 
and  rewards  science.  Her  scholars  are  her  peers. 
It  is  true  that  ever  and  anon  a  mighty  spirit  arises, 
who  leads  captivity  captive — who  inspires  and  leads 
the  people ;  such  were  Luther,  Calvin,  Knox,  New- 
ton and  others.  They  may  be  said  to  have  created 
their  own  age — to  have  marked  out  their  own  era. 
Still,  to  some  extent,  even  they  were  the  embodyings 
forth  of  the  people.  The  people  gave  the  response 
when  they  called,  or  they  had  never  been  heard. 
Columbus,  the  bold  and  adventurous,  was  but  the 

15 


210  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

crucible  in  which  the  traditions  and  the  floating 
knowledge  of  the  public,  its  hopes  and  conjectures, 
were  reduced  to  a  form,  and  breathed  into  action. 
Very  much  the  same  may  be  said  of  Dante,  Ariosto, 
and  Milton ;  Bacon,  Washington,  and  Napoleon. 

To  a  very  great  extent,  public  men  are  the  mir- 
rors of  the  morals  and  knowledge  of  the  great  public, 
the  omnific  people.  Why  have  we  pettifoggers,  quack 
doctors,  and  ignorant  preachers?  because  the  peo- 
ple not  only  tolerate,  but  patronize  them.  Tole- 
rated they  should  be,  not  patronized.  Tolerated,  be- 
cause we  allow  liberty  of  conscience,  and  declare 
life  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  an  inalienable 
right ;  but  patronized  they  should  not  be,  because 
thereby  an  evil  is  inflicted  upon  the  body  politic  and 
moral,  which  no  man  has  a  right  to  do,  do  what  he 
may  with  or  to  himself.  And  least  of  all,  should 
an  ignorant,  unsound  preacher,  be  countenanced. 
It  is  better  to  have  ignorance  at  the  bar,  or  in  the 
senate,  or  in  medicine,  than  in  the  pulpit.  Let  me 
lose  my  property  through  the  negligence,  or  ignorance, 
or  unslcilfidness  of  my  attorney  ;  let  me  he  murdered 
by  a  quade,  rather  than  that  my  soul  perish,  eternally 
perish,  through  the  error,  or  ignorance,  or  unfaith- 
fulness of  my  spiritual  guide. 

"If  the  people  are  industrious  and  virtuous,  their 
representatives  will  be  men  of  like  spirit.  But  if 
ignorance,  licentiousness,  and  a  disregard  of  all  reli- 
gious obligation  prevail  in  the  community,  then 
reckless  demagogues,  and  loud  disunionists,  and 
abandoned  profligates,  will  sit  in  the  sacred  halls  of 
legislation,  and  ambition,  and  self-aggrandizement, 
and  love  of  power,  will  take  the  place  of  patriotism 


W.    A.    SCOTT,   D.    D.  211 

and  public  spirit,  and  an  unshaken  attachment  to 
the  best  interests  of  the  nation.  In  such  a  state  of 
society,  the  elective  franchise,  which  is  the  peculiar 
glory  of  America,  will  become  one  of  its  deadliest 
scourges." 

In  many  other  countries  the  government,  by  a 
standing  army,  by  racks,  dungeons  and  spies,  and 
by  disarming  the  people,  preserves  some  kind  of 
public  order ;  but  here  the  people  govern  themselves, 
and  keep  the  peace,  and  go  through  the  most  excit- 
ing elections  without  bloodshed  and  without  a  po- 
lice. And  why  ?  Because  the  people  of  this  coun- 
try are  free,  and  are  under  the  influence  of  the  Bible. 
The  power  of  the  world  to  come  has  always  exerted 
an  extensive  influence  on  the  hearts  of  the  people 
of  this  country.  They  fled  from  oppression  to  this 
wilderness  with  the  Bible  in  their  hand,  for  "  free- 
dom to  worship  God,"  and  they  have  made  it  blos- 
som as  the  garden  of  the  Lord.  The  Huguenot  and 
Pilgrim  fathers  brought  the  sanctuary  to  America, 
and  hence  its  independence,  and  its  prosperity,  and 
its  illimitable  influence  on  the  destinies  of  mankind. 

V.  Public  sentiment  is  mainly  formed  by  the 
instructions  of  THE  House  of  God. — However  great 
the  influence  of  public  sentiment  may  be  upon  the 
institutions  of  other  countries,  in  our  country  it  is 
greater.  Our  government  is  the  people  themselves. 
Every  citizen  is  a  part,  it  may  be  an  humble  part, 
but  still  a  visible,  a  living  and  accountable  part  of 
the  sovereignity  of  the  nation.  Divine  Providence 
has  bound  us  together  by  the  ties  of  family,  of  coun- 
try, and  of  necessity.  We  are  twined  and  inter- 
woven into  the  great  web  of  our  political  institutions, 


212  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

like  the  threads  of  flax  or  the  locks  of  wool  in  a  piece 
of  linen  or  cloth.     The  beauty  and  strength  of  Ame- 
rican institutions  is,  that  the  fine   and  the  coarse 
threads  are  so  wonderfully  interwoven  and  twisted 
together,  that  it  is  impossible  to  part  them  without 
tearing  the  whole  to  pieces.     One  cannot  distinguish 
between  the  threads  of  a  piece  of  cloth,  which  are 
manufactured  out  of  the  wool  of  the  lean,  from  those 
which  are  manufactured  from  the  wool  of  the  fat  of 
the  flock — no  more  can  a  distinction  be  made  be- 
tween the  rich  and  the  poor,  learned  and  ignorant 
citizen   in   the   sovereignty   of   our   country.      The 
great  principles  of   republican   representation,  and 
the    pure   sovereignty   of  the   people,  are   the   in- 
alienable, indivestible  inheritance  of  every  American. 
And  what  are  the  consequences  ?     The  consequences 
are  fearfully  momentous :  namely,  that  our  govern- 
ment and  institutions  are  what  public  sentiment  is- 
The  vices  and  the  virtues  of  every  one  form  an  essen- 
tial part  of  our  national  character.    The  wickedness  of 
one,  the  drunkenness  of  another;  the  atheism,  infi- 
delity, or  profligacy  of  a  third;  the  avarice,  cruelty 
and   deceit  of  a  fourth ;  the  malice,  knavery,  and 
idleness  of  a  fifth ;  the  Sabbath  breaking,  neglect  of 
family  education,   worship,   and   government   of   a 
sixth — all  these  make  up  the  gross  amount  of  our 
national  character  and  guilt,  just  as  a  mountain  is 
made  up  of  sands,  or  as  the  great  and  mighty  ocean 
is  made  up  of  drops  of  water.     The  purity  of  public 
sentiment  is  therefore  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and 
the  pillar  of  fire  by  night,  which  alone  can  preserve  the 
peace  and  glory  of  republican  America.     By   this 
only  shall  she  conquer.      This  is  her  heaven  de- 


W.    A.    SCOTT,    D.    D.  213 

scended  banner.  The  good  order,  the  intelligence, 
and  the  religious  influence  of  the  family  is  the  bul- 
wark and  strong  tower  of  our  defence.  Every  in- 
stance of  parental  neglect,  of  ungoverned,  disobedient, 
and  wicked  children,  tends  to  draw  down  the  curse 
of  God  upon  our  country.  Every  evil  word,  every 
blasphemous  oath,  every  malicious  thought,  every 
violation  of  the  holy  Sabbath,  every  species  of  con- 
tempt to  the  Lord's  house,  and  the  institutions  and 
ministers  of  the  everlasting  Gospel ;  every  sin,  secret 
or  public,  against  God,  is  a  sin  against  our  country, 
and  is  high  treason  against  the  State.  And  on  the 
other  hand,  every  virtuous  feeling,  every  victory 
over  our  baser  appetites,  every  benevolent  aspiration, 
every  tear  of  contrition,  every  groan  of  repentance, 
every  sacrifice  of  our  will  and  wishes  to  the  supre- 
macy of  law ;  every  holy  act,  every  prayer  of  faith 
from  the  humblest  cottage — every  such  act  adds 
another  stone  to  the  spiritual  rampart,  which  for  so 
many  years  has  surrounded  and  defended  us.  Righte- 
ousness exalteih  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any 
people. 

The  conscience  of  the  body  politic,  and  the  main- 
tenance of  law,  are  but  developments  of  public  sen- 
timent. The  best  laws  are  perverted,  misapplied, 
or  neglected,  when  public  opinion  is  against  them. 
The  statutes  of  departed  wisdom,  and  the  legacies 
of  sainted  worth,  are  no  better  than  dead  letters, 
when  not  in  favour  with  the  omnific  public. 

But  what  law  cannot  do,  public  sentiment  can. 
To  the  ungodly,  public  sentiment  is  law  irresistible. 
The  thief  and  the  robber  are  bound  by  it.  Sur- 
round them  with  purity  of  sentiment,  and  you  make 


214  THE    HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

them  honest ;  first,  because  no  man  can  habitually 
do  what  all  about  him  disapprove.  The  most  de- 
praved will  be  perfectly  wretched,  embosomed  in  a 
holy  community.  They  would  break  from  it  as 
from  a  prison,  and  seek  some  mountain  glade  or 
wilderness  cave,  where  they  might  associate  with 
men  of  their  own  stamp.  Man  cannot  live  without 
the  countenance  and  sympathy  of  his  fellow  man. 
And,  secondly,  because  where  public  sentiment  is 
correct,  human  laws  will  be  executed.  Let  duelling 
be  regarded  by  public  opinion,  as  it  is  in  fact,  mur- 
der, and  it  will  no  longer  be  the  mark  of  a  gentle- 
man and  the  badge  of  honour.  Let  suicide  be 
marked  with  the  universal  horror  and  disgrace  of 
public  feeling,  and  men  will  no  longer  take  their 
own  lives.  Let  Sabbath  breaking,  and  drunkenness, 
and  vices  which  are  so  depraved  they  may  not  be 
named,  receive  the  detestation,  and  united  and  over- 
whelming frown  of  all  who  love  morality  and 
religion,  and  they  will  be  abandoned.  And  for  the 
formation  of  a  correct  public  opinion,  there  is  no 
means  so  powerful  as  the  House  of  God.  Its  influ- 
ence operates  not  only  upon  those  that  attend  the 
public  preaching  of  the  Word,  moulding  and  sanc- 
tifying their  principles,  but  it  goes  out  into  the 
crowd  that  never  attend  the  sanctuary.  For  the 
men  who  hear  the  Gospel,  bear  out  into  society, 
and  act  out,  in  their  deportment,  its  principles ;  and 
others  catch  the  moralizing  influence,  and  spread  it 
wider  and  still  wider  over  the  surface  of  the  com- 
munity, till  the  whole  mass  is  in  some  degree  leav- 
ened. "  Hence,  that  portion  of  society  which  stand 
aloof  from  the  House  of  God,  and  perhaps  gnash 


W.    A.    SCOTT,   D.    D.  215 

their  teeth  upon  its  holy  solemnities,  are  blessed 
through  its  influence.  It  bears  obliquely  upon 
them ;  but  it  is  mighty,  like  no  other  law  they 
listen  to.  It  gives  them  indirectly  all  their  civil 
privileges,  the  peaceable  possession  of  their  rights, 
security  of  life,  and  exemption  from  midnight  de- 
predations, and  from  hourly  oppressions.  It  sets  a 
watch  about  them  and  places  a  guard  over  their 
goods  and  persons  at  the  expense  of  others;"*  a 
watch  and  guard,  which  they  should  be  ashamed  to 
let  their  fellow  citizens  sustain  alone,  but  without 
which  society  would  be  a  den  of  thieves. 

VI.  The  House  of  God  furnishes  the  only  true 
standard  of  morals. — Without  a  rule  it  is  not  known 
what  is  straight  or  what  is  crooked.  Without  some 
standard  of  excellence,  from  which  there  can  be  no 
appeal,  it  is  not  known  what  is  right  or  what  is 
wrong.  The  Bible  is  the  only  rule  of  life  by  which 
to  form  our  creed,  and  regulate  our  private  and  pub- 
lic actions.  Conscience,  although  it  is  not,  as  Mcln 
tosh  asserts,  "a  human  generation,"  is,  neverthe- 
less, very  much  the  creature  of  education.  Set  up 
conscience  as  the  infallible  standard,  and  then  it  will 
be  right  to  worship  the  Grand  Lama — to  immolate 
widows  upon  the  funeral  piles  of  their  husbands, 
and  to  murder  our  children  and  our  parents.  Con- 
science may  be  educated  to  tolerate  any  thing.  It 
may  be  reared  so  as  to  approve  of  the  most  monstrous 
and  cruel  rites  of  Paganism. 

Public  opinion,  though  worthy  of  consideration,  is 
not  a  safe  standard.  It  is  wayward  and  blind,  fickle 
and  feeble. 

*  Tract  No.  223  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  p.  6. 


216  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

The  laws  of  the  land  are  also  defective.  There 
are  many  virtues  which  they  cannot  enforce  :  such 
as  gratitude,  fidelity  in  friendship,  charity,  proper 
education  of  children,  and  the  duties  of  piety,  love 
to  God  supremely,  and  to  our  neighbour  as  ourselves. 
There  are,  on  the  other  hand,  many  vices  and  crimes 
which  the  laws  of  the  land  and  the  magistrates  can- 
not prevent ;  such  as  luxury,  wasting,  disrespect  to 
parents,  partiality  in  voting,  betting  on  elections,  se- 
cret fraud  and  peculation,  and  the  such  like.  And 
besides,  the  laws  of  the  land  and  the  civil  magis- 
trates never  reach  the  heart.  They  cannot  ferret 
out  the  motives  and  secret  purposes  of  the  soul,  nor 
can  they  change  and  purify  the  heart.  And  what 
is  still  more,  how  often  are  statutes  dead  letters  ? 
The  laws  are  perverted,  misapplied,  or  neglected. 
Either  from  ignorance  or  fear,  negligence  or  parti- 
ality, the  guilty  escape,  and  the  innocent  are  op- 
pressed. 

If,  then,  it  is  desirable  that  men  should  live  by 
Gospel  precepts,  that  they  should  love  their  country 
— -fear  God  and  honour  the  magistrate;  that  they 
should  be  fervent  in  spirit,  diligent  in  business,  serv- 
ing the  Lord — upright  in  all  their  dealings  with  their 
fellow  men,  and  faithful  in  all  their  duties,  let  them 
be  brought  under  the  influence  of  an  able,  evangeli- 
cal pulpit. 

VII.  The  House  of  God  is  the  only  preventive 

FROM  A  FALSE  RELIGION THE    BlBLE    IS   THE  ONLY  AN- 
TIDOTE of  Polytheism. — Whenever  the  Jews  left  off 
the    worship    of    Jehovah,    they  bowed    down    to 
idols.     Men  may  and  do  change   their  forms  of  re 
ligion,  but  they  cannot  abandon  all  religions.     To 


W.   A.    SCOTT,   D.   D.  217 

what  extent  some  individuals  may  have  succeeded 
in  eradicating  religious  truth  from  their  minds,  it  is 
not  for  us  to  determine ;  but  ail  history,  and  our 
own  observation,  teaches  that  no  nation  can  exist 
without  some  kind  of  religion.  A  nation  of  Athe- 
ists is  no  where  to  be  found ;  nor  can  man  exist  with- 
out some  religious  sentiments,  as  long  as  he  is  in  pos- 
session of  his  present  faculties,  intellectual  and  moral. 
Some  kind  of  religion  is  as  indispensable  in  order  to 
meet  the  demands  of  his  intellectual  and  moral  na- 
ture, as  food  is  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  his  appe- 
tite. A  man  without  some  religious  sentiments  is 
just  as  much  deformed  and  mutilated  in  his  moral 
nature,  as  his  physical  would  be  without  a  limb  or 
an  eye,  or  as  his  intellect  would  be  without  the  power 
of  reason.  The  question,  then,  is  not  whether  we 
shall  have  no  religion  at  all,  but  whether  we  have  a,  true 
or  a  false  religion ;  whether  we  will  have  Mahomme- 
danism,  or  Judaism,  Paganism  or  Christianity;  Mor- 
monism  or  any  other  fanaticism,  or  the  religion  which 
is  pure  and  undefiled  in  the  sight  of  God  the  Father. 
The  religion  of  the  Gospel  is  not  only  true  and 
excellent,  but  it  is  recommended  by  its  economy. 
Some  system  of  religion  we  will  have.  It  is  infi- 
nitely important,  then,  that  we  should  have  the  best. 
Here  we  must  take  it  for  granted,  that  you  believe 
the  religion  of  the  Bible,  which  is  the  religion  of 
Protestants,  and  is  the  religion  of  this  great  nation, 
to  be  the  most  excellent  system  known  upon  earth. 
The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  also  the  cheapest  reli- 
gion. Every  religion  has  its  priests  and  altars ;  Pa- 
ganism has  its  thousands  of  altars  and  its  array  of 
priests  to  attend  on  every  altar,  and  its  thousand, 


218  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

thousand  victims.  The  appeal  is  made  to  your  in 
telligence,  to  your  knowledge  of  false  religions  from 
history  and  travellers,  to  show  that  they  are  more 
expensive  than  the  true.  Your  reading  will  also 
remind  you  of  the  evils  and  expenses  of  religious 
establishments  supported  by  the  State.  Time  for- 
bids to  notice  the  struggles  of  the  people  of  Europe 
under  the  jmtronage  law  and  oppressive  tithes,  col- 
lected at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  to  support  a  do- 
tard hierarchy,  overgrown,  corrupt  and  tyrannical. 
These  are  things  which  we  know  by  the  hearing  of 
the  ear,  and  they  make  our  ears  to  tingle,  but  they 
are  not  parts  or  parcels  of  our  own  glorious  history. 
The  people  of  the  United  States  are  not,  and  never  can 
be,  a  tax-ridden  people,  because  they  are  not,  and  by 
the  power  of  truth  and  the  ever-living  God,  they  never 
shall  be  a  Icing  or  priest-ridden  people. 

But  think  you,  beloved  hearers,  if  one  should 
sweep,  as  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  all  Christian 
tenrples  from  our  land,  that  we  should  not  have  to 
erect  infidel  or  heathen  ones  in  their  stead ;  think 
you  that  if  you  do  not  support  the  American  Pro- 
testant evangelical  pulpit,  that  you  will  escape  from 
all  pecuniary  contributions  to  religious  institutions  ? 
By  no  means. 

"  Where'er  yc  shed  the  honey,  the  buzzing  flies  will  crowd ; 
Where'er  ye  fling  the  carrion,  the  raven's  croak  is  loud; 
Where'er  down  Tiber  garbage  floats,  the  greedy  pike  ye  see" — 

Wheresoever  the  carcass  is,  there  will  tJie  birds  of 
prey  be  gathered  together. 

Silence  the  Protestant  pulpits  of  America,  and  the 
vultures  of  a  corrupt  hierarchy  would  fatten  on  the 
wealth  of  the  land.     Look  at  Mexico,  with  all  the 


W.   A.    SCOTT,   D.   D.  219 

wealth  of  nature ;  poor  and  ignorant,  torn  and  dis- 
tracted, wretched  indeed — because  it  has  long,  even 
from  the  beginning,  been  subject  to  a  wicked,  ava« 
ricious,  blood  thirsty  priesthood.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  South  America ;  blest  with  every  climate  and 
every  product,  from  tropical  fruits  and  birds  "  on 
starry  wings,"  to  the  gold  and  diamonds  of  Brazil, 
and  the  plumage  and  furs  of  colder  skies.  Let  the 
Anglo  Saxon  Protestant  go  to  Mexico  and  South 
America,  and  introduce  his  laws,  language  and  reli- 
gion, and  they  will  become  as  the  garden  of  the 
Lord. 

Look  at  France  sixty  years  ago.  Popery,  the 
established  religion,  with  400,000  ecclesiastics  to 
clothe  and  feed,  who  were  princes  of  luxury,  rolling 
in  every  species  of  sumptuous  living  and  high  de- 
bauchery, consuming  the  labours  of  the  people — and 
at  Spain,  superstitious,  bloody,  unhappy  Spain,  with 
180,000  priests,  and  you  may  form  some  idea  of 
what  it  would  cost  to  support  Popery.  The  religion 
of  the  Bible  is  not  only  the  true  religion,  but  it 
is  the  cheapest.  It  demands  fewer  ministers,  and  a 
simpler  dress ;  requiring  a  far  less  expensive  appa- 
ratus for  worship ;  neither  robes,  nor  sceptres,  nor 
mitres,  nor  crucifixes,  nor  gorgeous  altars,  nor  pomp 
and  splendid  ceremonial;  but  a  broken  heart,  a 
broken  and  a  contrite  spirit ;  a  simple,  pure  formula, 
the  word  of  God,  and  a  ministry  evangelical,  of  pure 
hearts  and  clean  hands.  This  is  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ 

VIII.  The  House  of  God  is  the  depository  of 
truth. — The  pulpit  is  the  expositor  and  interpreter 
of  the  Bible,  which  is  truth  itself.     If  the  Bible  were 


220  THE   HOUSE   OF  GOD. 

but  the  ruins  of  ancient  learning ;  the  fragments  of 
remote  annals,  it  would  be  a  venerable  document : 
were  it  a  fiction  only,  it  would  be  a  grand  one ;  then 
how  much  more  interesting  and  valuable  as  it  is 
truth,  ancient,  eternal  truth — truth  that  is  indisso- 
lubly  connected  with  our  very  existence  and  well- 
being  here  and  hereafter. 

There  is  in  the  human  mind  a  native  love  for 
truth.  It  is  agreeable  to  our  natural  constitution, 
or,  as  Lord  Shaftsbury  has  somewhere  expressed  it, 
"  Truth  is  so  congenial  to  our  minds  that  we  love 
the  very  shadow  of  it."  Hence,  truth  is  much  easier 
than  falsehood,  and  hypocrisy  itself  is  but  the  hom- 
age of  vice  to  virtue.  And,  on  the  same  principle, 
Horace,  in  his  rules  for  the  construction  of  an  epic 
poem,  advises  that  "fictions  in  poetry  should  re- 
semble truth."  Then,  as  the  Bible  is  the  word  of 
God,  and  the  pulpit  is  its  authorized  interpreter, 
how  necessary  is  the  pulpit  to  our  present  and  eter- 
nal well-being.  As  the  eye  was  formed  for  light, 
and  the  ear  for  sound,  so  the  mind  is  constituted  for 
the  reception  and  enjoyment  of  truth.  As  the  limbs 
of  youth  resist  confinement,  so  the  mind  abhors 
darkness.  The  eyes  of  the  soul  are  formed  to  gaze 
on  the  light  of  truth,  and  to  revel  in  its  ever  new  and 
yet  unchanging  beauties.  Must  not  the  heart  be 
educated  as  well  as  the  head  ?  and  what  but  the  en- 
lightening, saving  and  purifying  truth  of  the  Bible 
as  the  Holy  Ghost  presents  it,  can  form  man's  heart 
to  holiness  ?  Is  it  not  the  pulpit  that  explains,  de- 
fends and  brings  home  to  the  conscience  and  the 
heart,  the  truths  of  Revelation  ?  Ts  it  not  from  the 
pulpit  religious  instruction  is  to  be  chiefly  sought  ? 


W.   A.    SCOTT,   D.    D.  221 

Then,  if  school  houses,  universities  and  state  houses 
are  worth  the  expense  of  their  erection,  how  much 
more  are  temples  to  the  living  God  ? 

The  House  of  God  ever  has  been,  and  ever  must 
be,   the   grand   receptacle   of   light   from   heaven, 
whence  it  issues  to  restrain  the  passions  and  mould 
the  manners  of  men,  and  repair  the  ruins  of  the 
apostacy.     Where  the  House  of  God  is  not  erected, 
false  religions  eat  up  the  people  like  a  pestilence. 
Falsehood,  fraud  and  theft,  and  rapine  and  murder 
so  prevail,  that  no  man  sees  another  in  whom  he 
places  confidence.     Domestic  happiness  and  conjugal 
fidelity,  and  parental  and  filial  regard,  are  things 
unknown,  and  for  which  many  heathen  languages 
have  not  even  a  name.     And  every  where,  where 
the  Gospel  is  not,  there  prevails  a  government  that 
rules  with  a  sceptre  of  iron.     The  hardest  despotism 
is  rendered  necessary  by  the  absence  of  moral  re- 
straint.    The  Church  is  both  the  light  and  salt  of 
the  earth.     It  was  the  blessed  Saviour's  prayer  for 
the  heirs  of  salvation  :  u  Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth."    It  is  by  the  truth  we  are  to  be  saved.    And 
it  is  ordinarily  by  the  truth  from  the  lips  of  a  living 
ministry,  waiting  on  the  courts  of  the  Lord's  House, 
that  men  are  convicted  of  sin,  and  converted  to  God. 
"  By  the  foolishness  of  preaching  it  pleases  God  to 
save  them  that  believe."     The  subjects  of  divine 
grace  are  taken  usually  from  those  that  are  in  the 
habit  of  attending  Church,  and  hearing  the  truth 
preached  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath.     In  revivals  of 
religion,  those  families  are  generally  the  most  blest 
who  are  Church-going  families.    And  far  the  greatest 
proportion  of  youth  who  unite  with  the  Church  are 


222  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

such  as  have  been  baptised  in  infancy.  The  Lord 
is  faithful  in  all  his  promises.  "His  mercy  is  from 
everlasting  to  everlasting  upon  them  that  fear  him, 
and  his  righteousness  unto  children's  children,  to 
such  as  keep  his  covenant,  and  to  those  that  remem- 
ber his  commandments  to  do  them."  Prostrate  the 
sanctuary,  and  we  shall  have  neither  creed,  nor 
covenant,  nor  communion,  nor  revival,  nor  liberty 
of  conscience,  nor  toleration  of  opinion,  nor  Bible  in 
our  houses  nor  in  our  schools,  nor  the  voice  of  sup- 
plication and  praise ;  and  our  children  would  soon 
be  without  God,  and  without  Christ,  and  without 
hope  in  the  world. 

Finally. — The  House  of  God  is  the  fountain 

OF    LIGHT,    LIFE,    AND   JOT   TO   THE   WORLD.      It  is   the 

altar  of  prayer.  It  is  the  presence  chamber  of  the 
Great  King,  "whose  sceptre  pardon  gives."  It  is 
there  His  honour  dwells,  and  there  he  hath  recorded 
his  name — a  God  that  heareth  prater.  Better 
give  up  every  other  privilege  than  to  have  no  share 
in  the  prayers  of  God's  people.  "  I  would,"  says 
one,  "  be  without  the  means  of  self-defence,  without 
the  protection  of  law,  and  without  a  shelter  for  my 
head  at  night,  but  should  not  dare  to  cut  myself  off 
from  an  interest  in  the  prayers  of  the  sanctuary. 
Let  no  shower  or  dew  fall  on  my  field,  or  breezes  fan 
my  habitation,  or  genial  sun  warm  me ;  but  let  me 
not  be  excluded  from  the  health  beaming  influence 
of  the  House  of  Prayer.  I  would  do  without  a 
roof  to  cover  my  head,  and  have  my  lodging  in  the 
clefts  of  the  rock ;  but  I  must  go  to  the  House  of 
the  Lord,  and  fix  my  dying  grasp  upon  the  horns 
of  his  altar."     It  is  in  the  House  of  God  that  law 


W.   A.    SCOTT,   D.  D.  223 

and  conscience  speak  out ;  that  a  future  state  of  ex- 
istence, and  a  day  of  judgment  and  final  retribution 
are  held  up  before  the  intellectual  vision ;  that  life 
and  immortality  are  brought  to  light;  that  the 
Gospel  of  the  free  grace  of  the  ever  blessed  God  is 
preached,  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to  all  people, 
peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  to  men.  The  House 
of  God  instructs  our  ignorance,  enlightens  our  un- 
derstandings, corrects  our  judgments,  renews  our 
wills,  and  reforms  our  lives.  It  imparts  knowledge 
to  the  poor,  it  gives  the  orphan  a  parent,  the  stran- 
ger a  friend,  the  sailor  a  brother,  the  prisoner  a 
companion,  and  the  young  man  from  home  a  guide. 
The  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  God  of  the  sanc- 
tuary hath  said :  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labour 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  In 
the  House  of  God  we  learn  how  to  live  usefully 
and  happily,  and  how  to  die  gloriously.  Here, 
parents  and  children,  husbands  and  wives,  masters 
and  servants,  magistrates  and  people,  are  taught 
their  duties,  and  to  enjoy  their  privileges.  Here 
they  are  taught  how  to  live  so  as  to  gain  everlasting 
life  in  glory ;  how  to  live  that  they  may  meet  again, 
after  death,  in  the  heavenly  world,  where  there  is 
no  more  sorrow,  nor  crying,  nor  pain,  nor  sin,  nor 
separation,  nor  death.  The  House  of  God  enlight- 
ens, soothes,  comforts,  cheers,  elevates,  sanctifies, 
and  saves.  It  imparts  salvation  to  the  sin  sick  soul, 
and  seals  it  with  pardon  an  heir  of  grace.  It 
hushes  into  a  calm  the  tempest  raised  in  the  bosom 
by  conscious  guilt,  for  it  proclaims  there  is  balm  in 

GlLEAD,  THERE  IS  A  PlIYSICIAN  THERE — THERE  IS  FOR- 
GIVENESS WITH    GOD   THAT  HE  MAT  BE  FEARED.      THE 


224  THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

BLOOD  OF  HIS   SON   CLEANSETII   US  FROM  ALL   SIN.       It 

melts  the  most  obdurate  into  tenderness  and  con- 
trition. It  cheers  the  broken  hearted,  and  brings 
the  tear  of  gladness  into  eyes  swollen  with  grief. 
It  maintains  serenity  under  calamities  that  drive 
the  worldling  mad.  It  reconciles  the  sufferer  to  his 
cross,  and  raises  songs  of  praise  from  lips  quivering 
with  agony.  It  teaches  the  fading  eye  to  brighten 
at  the  sweet  promises  of  Jesus,  and  brings  a  fore- 
taste of  heaven  down  to  the  "  chamber  where  the 
good  man  meets  his  fate." 

"  Jesus  can  make  a  dying  bed 
Feel  soft  as  downy  pillows  are." 

Blessed  is  the  people  that  know  the  joyful 
sound  :  they  shall  walk,  0  lord,  in  the  light  of 
thy  countenance. 

Blessed  is  the  nation  whose  God  is  the  Lord. 
Blessed  be  the  Lord  for  evermore.  Amen  and 
Amen. 


PERPETUITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


J.  C.  LOKD,  D.  D. 

PA3TOR   OF   THE    CENTRAL   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    BUFFALO,    N.   T. 


Wherefore  we  receiving  a  kingdom  that  cannot  be  moved,  let  us  have 
grace  whereby  we  may  serve  God  acceptably,  with  reverence  and 
godly  fear. — Heb.  xii.  28. 

What  kingdom  is  this  which  cannot  be  moved  ? 
What  kingdom  is  that  which  has  not  been  moved,  and 
shall  not  be  for  ever  ?  Where  is  the  law  of  absolute 
permanency  manifested  ?  Where  are  the  everlasting 
foundations  that  never  shall  be  shaken  ?  Shall  we 
turn  to  the  kingdom  of  nature  for  an  example^  ex- 
pecting to  find  unchangeableness  there  ?  Upon  a 
careful  examination,  a  state  of  facts  will  be  discerned 
at  war  with  the  commonly  received  opinions  of  the 
permanency  and  fixedness  of  the  course  of  nature. 
If  we  go  back  a  few  centuries  in  our  investi- 
gations, we  find  that  extraordinary  interruptions 
and  changes  have  marked  the  history  of  this  king- 
dom, since  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
the  proofs  of  which  are  graven  in  the  rocks  by  the 
finger  of  the  great  Architect;  the  memorials  of  which 

16  ( 225 ) 


226  PERPETUITY   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

are  as  numerous  as  the  heights  of  the  earth,  and  the 
depths  of  the  sea.  Our  globe  has  been  shaken  by 
convulsions,  which  have  overwhelmed  existing  or- 
ders of  life ;  which  have  thrust  the  mountains  sky- 
ward, and  hollowed  out  the  profound  depths  where 
are  gathered  the  waters  of  the  ocean.  The  chaotic 
state  which  preceded  the  present  order  of  things, 
when  the  earth  was  without  form  and  void,  has  left 
every  where  visible  and  indubitable  marks  of  its 
existence.  The  ancient  forms  of  life  have  passed 
away,  and  new  ones  have  been  created  to  supply 
their  places.  The  economy  of  existence,  in  this 
world,  has  been  changed  more  than  once ;  and  the 
present  order  of  things  reposes  on  the  wrecks  of  pre- 
existent  and  extinguished  forms  of  life.  The  ruins 
of  primitive  forests,  of  a  diverse  order  or  species 
from  those  which  now  exist,  constitute  the  beds  of 
coal  from  which  we  draw  inexhaustible  supplies 
of  fuel.  The  metals  we  use  were  melted  in  furna- 
ces in  the  interior  of  the  earth,  and  injected  in  veins 
through  the  masses  of  igneous  rocks,  broken  by  a 
power  which  shattered  the  crust  of  the  globe,  and 
upheaved  the  mountains,  whose  scattered  debris 
constitute  the  soils  which  now  produce  the  precious 
fruits  of  the  earth.  The  attrition  and  decompo- 
sition of  substances  forced  out  of  the  bosom  of  the 
planet,  and  distributed  by  the  alternate  action  of 
cold  and  heat,  by  the  agency  of  fire,  air,  and  water, 
constitutes  the  basis  of  all  vegetable  production,  and 
the  support  of  the  present  kingdom  of  life.  The 
roots  of  the  present  economy  draw  their  sustenance 
from  the  graves  of  its  predecessors.  We  build  not 
only  upon,  but  with  the  tombs  of  extinct  orders  of 


J.    C.    LORD,    D.    D.  227 

life ;  more  than  this,  the  regularity  and  uniformity 
of  the  present  order  of  things  is  the  result  of  a  pre- 
vious designed  irregularity  and  disorder,  which  pre- 
pared the  globe  for  the  support  of  its  present  inhab- 
itants. Mountains  and  valleys  are  the  ridges  of 
ancient  volcanoes,  which  drove  the  plowshare  of  ap- 
parent ruin  through  the  crust  of  the  earth,  only  to 
prepare  the  way  for  man,  and  the  orders  of  life  with 
which  it  pleased  God  to  surround  him.  The  ancient 
vegetable  kingdom  was  buried  as  a  deposit  for  his 
use ;  before  this,  in  the  era  of  fire  which  preceded 
all  forms  of  life,  the  metals  were  fabricated,  and 
then  deposited,  or  rather  driven,  near  the  surface  by 
volcanic  action,  for  the  same  wise  and  benevolent 
purpose.  All  the  primitive  systems  have  passed 
away,  having  performed  their  office  by  furnishing 
the  means  of  support  to  that  which  was  to  succeed 
them. 

The  scriptural  chronology  commences  with  the 
creation  of  man,  after  a  brief  intimation  of  a  pre- 
existing amorphous  condition  of  the  earth ;  and  it  is 
conceded  that  geological  phenomena  do  not  indicate 
a  longer  time  than  six  thousand  years  for  the  pre- 
sent order  or  kingdom  of  life.  The  Bible  no  where 
limits  the  length  of  that  period  during  which  the 
planet  was  in  an  imperfect  and  forming  condition ; 
nor  are  we  told  how  long  the  Spirit  of  God  was  mov- 
ing upon  the  face  of  the  waters,  preparatory  to  the 
last  six  day's  work  of  creation.  But  without  dwel- 
ling further  on  this  interesting  theme,  may  we  not 
presume  that  enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the 
kingdom  of  nature  has  none  of  the  permanency 
spoken  of  in  the  text  ?     It  has  been  revolutionized ; 


228  PERPETUITY   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

it  has  been  shifted  from  foundation  to  foundation ; 
it  has  been  moved  from  its  earlier  conditions ;  it  has 
been  without  all  life  under  the  dominion  of  fire ;  it 
was  inhabited  for  a  time  only  by  the  inferior  forms 
of  existence,  which  sport  in  the  waters,  or  by  gigantic 
lizards,  which  haunted  the  marshes  among  ferns  sixty 
feet  high ;  it  has  experienced  numerous  interrup- 
tions destructive  of  the  earlier  organisms,  which  have 
been  succeeded  by  new  acts  and  new  forms  of  creation. 

The  present  economy  under  which  we  live  is  con- 
tinued now  by  no  necessity  of  nature,  and  abides  in 
an  orderly  way,  only  because  God  "uplioldetk  all 
things"  by  the  same  word  of  power  by  which  he  called 
order  and  form,  and  life  and  light,  out  of  darkness 
and  death,  out  of  emptiness  and  nothingness.  It  is 
the  sure  word  of  promise  that  perpetuates  the  king- 
dom of  nature  during  the  appointed  time,  for  God 
said  to  Noah,  when  he  came  out  of  the  ark,  "  While 
the  earth  remaineth  summer  and  winter,  seed  time 
and  harvest,  cold  and  heat,  and  day  and  night  shall 
not  cease." 

But  as  this  kingdom  of  nature  has  been  moved  by 
the  concurrent  testimony  of  science  and  religion,  so 
there  is  the  same  evidence  that  it  is  destined  to  new 
revolutions  and  changes.  The  promise  to  Noah  im- 
plies the  end  of  the  present  economy ;  "while  the 
earth  remaineth,"  that  is,  during  the  appointed  period 
of  its  present  state,  "seed  time  and  harvest  shall  not 
fail." 

The  apostle  Peter,  in  his  second  epistle,  declares 
that  "the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great 
noise,  the  elements  melt  with  fervent  heat;  the  earth 
also,  and    the    works    that   are   therein   shall   be 


J.    C.    LORD,   D.   D.  229 

burned."  He  announces  that  "  all  these  things  shall 
be  dissolved;"  ''nevertheless,"  continues  the  apostle, 
"we,  according  to  his  promise,  look  for  a  new  heavens 
and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 
It  appears  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  inspired  writer, 
that  the  present  economy,  its  order,  its  laws,  its  at- 
mosphere, its  forms  of  matter,  and  life  shall  be  dis- 
solved ;  not  annihilated,  but  reduced  by  fire  to  the 
same  rudiments  out  of  which  God  before  educed  the 
first  creations.  "  We  look,"  he  says,  "for  a  new  hea- 
vens and  a  new  earth,"  implying,  we  think,  a  new 
and  higher  organism,  to  be  fashioned  out  of  the  old 
materials,  because  he  adds,  "wherein  dwelleth  right- 
eousness." How  strikingly  analagous  is  this  declara- 
tion of  the  final  consummation  of  the  divine  plan, 
in  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth,  with  the  phy- 
sical history  of  the  planet,  at  first  a  globe  of  fire, 
upon  which  was  superinduced,  at  length,  an  inferior 
economy  of  life,  followed  by  new  kingdoms,  advanc- 
ing in  importance,  increasing  in  beauty  and  glory, 
until  man  appears  made  in  the  image  of  God.  But 
this  condition,  impaired  by  the  apostacy  and  defaced 
by  sin,  must  give  way  at  length  to  a  "new  heavens 
and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 
That  the  globe  has  once  been  a  mass  of  fire,  proves 
that  it  may  again  become  so ;  and  as  God  has  super- 
induced new  and  more  perfect  creations  upon  the 
destruction  of  the  older  organisms,  have  we  not  here 
a  confirmation  of  the  divine  word,  which  promises 
a  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  at  last,  perfect  in 
righteousness — an  immovable  kingdom? 

But  there  is  proof  in  the  present  arrangement  of 
our  globe,  that  the  kingdom  of  life  that  now  subsists 


230  PERPETUITY   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

upon  it  must  be  dissolved.  Is  it  not  manifest  that 
our  economy  is  to  wax  old,  and  at  last  vanish  away, 
or  be  changed  into  what  the  apostle  calls  a  new  hea- 
vens and  a  new  earth  ?  Consider,  for  a  moment,  what 
renders  the  world  habitable.  Are  not  the  moun- 
tains and  the  valleys  of  our  planet,  its  rivers  and 
seas,  essential  to  the  healthy  condition  of  its  atmos- 
phere, no  less  than  to  the  productiveness  of  its  soil, 
and  its  eligibility,  in  numerous  respects,  as  an  abode  of 
man,  and  the  circle  of  life  of  which  he  is  the  head9 
Now,  it  is  philosophically  and  strictly  true,  that  a 
time  must  come,  however  remote  the  period,  when 
the  earth,  by  the  operation  of  known  laws,  will  cease 
to  be  a  suitable  habitation  for  our  race.  The  newly 
cut  and  sharply  defined  caverns  of  the  ocean,  made 
by  the  convulsions  which  preceded  the  existing  econ- 
omy, are  slowly  filling  up,  and  must  in  time  cease 
to  fulfill  their  office.  A  single  river,  like  the  Gan- 
ges or  the  Mississippi,  would,  in  a  period  which  can 
be  ascertained  and  stated  in  figures,  discharge  a  conti- 
nent into  the  sea.  Every  mountain  on  the  globe,  by 
an  observable  process,  must  in  time  be  precipitated, 
until  at  last  a  dreary  and  stagnant  level,  exposed  ta 
the  incursions  of  the  sea,  would  characterise  all  its 
continents  and  islands.  The  earth  grows  old,  like 
a  decaying  edifice,  and  by  the  operation  of  known 
physical  causes  must  at  length  become  uninhabita- 
ble— a  worn  out  and  broken  dwelling,  requiring  the 
return  of  another  chaos,  a  new  fracture  of  its  flat- 
tened crust,  new  convulsions  destructive  of  all  life, 
to  heave  up  new  mountains  and  hollow  out  fresh 
cavities,  and  then  a  new  creation  to  people  the  new 
world.     So  then  the  kingdom  of  nature  is  not  the 


J.    C.    LORD,   D.   D.  231 

kingdom  spoken  of  in  the  text,  which  cannot  be 
moved,  for  this  kingdom  has  been  moved,  and  shall 
again  be ;  which  is  taught  also  by  these  words  of  the 
apostle  in  the  context,  "whose  voice  then  shook  the 
earth,  but  now  he  hath  promised,  saying,  yet  once 
more  I  shake  not  the  earth  only,  but  also  heaven ; 
and  the  words  once  more  signifieth  the  removing  of 
those  things  that  are  shaken  as  of  things  that  are 
made,  that  those  things  which  cannot  be  shaken  may 
remain ;  wherefore  we,  receiving  a  kingdom  that 
cannot  be  moved,  let  us  have  grace  whereby  we  may 
serve  God  acceptably  with  reverence  and  godly  fear." 

The  apostle  here  contrasts  the  visible  things  of 
the  Hebrew  economy,  and  with  them  all  temporal 
and  material  forms  which  are  to  be  shaken,  with  a 
kingdom  which,  he  informs  us,  cannot  be  moved. 

Where,  then,  are  we  to  look  for  this  kingdom  ?  Is 
it  among  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  ?  Let  history 
answer ;  let  us  listen  to  the  voices  from  the  sepul- 
chres of  empires ;  let  us  mark  the  wrecks  of  king- 
doms that  lie  scattered  on  the  shores  of  time.  Where 
are  the  first,  and  perhaps  the  grandest  of  monarchies 
among  men,  of  the  days  of  the  giants  of  old,  men  of 
renown,  who  filled  the  earth  with  violence  ?  Where 
are  the  antediluvian  kingdoms,  to  which  the  first 
sixteen  centuries  gave  birth,  when  men  lived  a 
thousand  years,  and  had  time  to  perfect  their  know- 
ledge, to  complete  their  plans,  to  make  durable  their 
monuments,  and,  if  it  were  possible  with  temporal 
things,  to  lay  immovable  foundations?  They  are 
utterly  finished,  their  memorials  have  perished  from 
among  men ;  all  record  of  them  is  lost,  save  only 
the  brief  narration  in  Genesis  of  their  guilt  and  their 


232  PERPETUITY   OF    THE    CHURCH. 

doom.  The  last  great  catastrophe  in  nature  was 
ordained  for  their  judgment,  for  God  saw  that  the 
earth  was  filled  with  violence,  and  that  all  flesh  had 
corrupted  his  way,  and  opened  the  windows  of  hea- 
ven, and  broke  up  the  foundations  of  the  great  deep, 
and  swept  away  the  debased  populations  who  had 
filled  the  earth  with  blood  and  the  heavens  with  in- 
dignation. The  sea  roars  over  the  broken  monu- 
ments of  the  antediluvian  kingdoms  which  perished 
beneath  its  waves.  Over  the  chasm  of  forty  centu- 
ries the  wail  of  the  primative  generations  comes  echo- 
ing upon  our  ears  like  the  noise  of  many  waters. 
"  He  uttered  his  voice,  the  kingdoms  were  moved, 
the  earth  trembled;  thou  coverest  with  the  deep  as 
with  a  garment ;  the  waters  rose  above  the  moun- 
tains, at  thy  rebuke  they  fled,  at  the  voice  of  thy 
thunder  they  hasted  away." 

Was  there  no  kingdom  that  survived  that  general 
doom?  Mark  you  yon  vessel  upon  that  wild  waste 
of  waters,  that  fathomless  and  shoreless  sea,  the 
sport  of  storms  that  sweep  from  the  equator  to  the 
poles  ?  Keeps  she,  amid  the  terrors  of  the  deluge, 
such  a  charge  ?  Bears  she  a  kingdom  there,  pre- 
served out  of  the  universal  destruction,  and  which 
shall  never  be  moved  ?  If  so,  no  wave  shall  break 
her  bulwarks ;  no  yawning  grave  of  billows  shall 
enclose  her  priceless  freight.  Who  sails  with  her 
shall  come  to  land,  though  naught  but  a  howling 
sea,  and  a  leaden  sky  are  now  visible ;  though  every 
element  of  destruction  rage  around  her  battered  hull, 
like  roaring  lions,  greedy  for  their  prey. 

Where  is  that  post  diluvian  kingdom,  whose  seat  of 
power  was  in  the  plain  of  Shinar,  through  which  flows 


J.    C.    LORD,    D.    D.  233 

the  ancient  river  Euphrates,  once  bearing  upon  its 
bosom  the  commerce  of  nations,  the  wealth  of  the 
world  ?  Where  is  that  capitol  city  that  styled  her- 
self the  Lady  of  Nations,  the  Queen  of  Kingdoms, 
to  whom  a  hundred  and  twenty  provinces,  compre- 
hending all  languages  and  tongues,  sent  tribute,  and 
before  whom,  as  to  a  divinity,  they  rendered  homage  ? 
Where  is  that  gorgeous  Babylon,  whose  golden  tow- 
ers shone  ever  in  that  cloudless  climate,  reflecting 
the  sun  by  day,  and  the  stars  by  night  ?  Where  is  that 
glory  of  the  Chaldean's  excellency,  whose  circuit,  for 
a  swift  rider,  was  the  journey  of  a  day;  upon  whose 
walls,  higher  than  the  commemoration  columns  of 
modern  times,  three  chariots  could  drive  abreast, 
fearless  of  the  dizzy  height,  and  sheer  descent  on 
either  hand  ?  Alas  !  there  is  no  response.  Babylon 
gives  no  sign,  though  the  neighbouring  Nineveh  is 
rendering  up  her  sculptured  forms,  her  glorious  spe- 
cimens of  art,  concealed  for  centuries,  to  the  curious 
eyes  of  a  generation,  wise  in  its  own  conceit,  but 
who  from  the  Assyrian  tombs  might  learn  humility, 
if  this  were  possible.  But  no  man  knows  the  pre- 
cise site  of  Babylon ;  the  Euphrates,  which  treach- 
erously admitted  Cyrus  within  its  walls,  spreads  out 
her  channel  to  conceal  her  crime,  enwrapping  in  one 
dark  morass  the  first  and  most  magnificent  of  all 
the  capitols  of  the  world ;  and  thus  the  royal  word 
of  prophecy,  uttered  before  the  glory  of  Chaldea  had 
begun  to  diminish,  is  fulfilled;  "And  Babylon,  the 
glory  of  kingdoms,  the  beauty  of  the  Chaldean's  ex- 
cellency, shall  be  as  when  God  overthrew  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah ;  it  shall  never  be  inhabited,  neither 
shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from  generation  to  generation ; 


234  PERPETUITY   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there ;  neither 
shall  the  shepherds  make  their  fold  there ;  but  wild 
beasts  of  the  desert  shall  be  there.  And  their  houses 
shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures,  and  owls  shall  dwell 
there,  and  satyrs  shall  dance  there.  And  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  islands  shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses, 
and  dragons  in  their  pleasant  palaces,  and  her  time 
is  near  to  come,  and  her  days  shall  not  be  pro- 
longed." The  kingdom  was  removed  from  Babylon 
with  a  destruction  like  that  which  overtook  the 
cities  of  the  plain,  where  the  sluggish  waters  of  the 
Dead  Sea  mark  the  place  and  the  manner  of  the 
divine  judgment.  The  site  of  the  one  is  a  noxious 
marsh,  of  the  other  a  putrid  sea,  whose  barren  shores 
are  watered  by  no  dews  from  heaven,  The  wild 
Arab,  himself  the  child  of  prophecy,  avoids  both  as 
spots  accursed  of  God,  and  pitches  his  tent  neither 
by  the  sea  of  death,  nor  the  marsh  of  the  Euphrates, 
filled  with  doleful  creatures. 

What  kingdoms  of  this  world  have  not  been 
moved,  what  political  foundations  have  not  been  de- 
stroyed ?  The  fate  of  Babylon  and  Rome,  the  first 
and  last  of  the  universal  monarchies  is  the  history 
of  all  the  empires  and  kingdoms  of  this  world.  It 
is  true  a  shrunken  spectre  yet  haunts  the  banks  of 
the  Tiber  with  "  the  horns  of  a  lamb  but  the  voice 
of  a  dragon,"  claiming  ghostly  dominion  over  men, 
pretending  to  be  the  head  of  a  kingdom  that  shall 
not  be  moved,  exalting  himself  to  the  throne  of  God, 
nay,  above  all  that  is  called  God  or  worshipped, 
wearing  upon  his  triple  crown  the  words  of  blas- 
phemy, changing  times  and  laws,  forbidding  to 
marry,  and  commanding  to  abstain  from  meats ;  but 


J.    C.    LORD,    D.    D.  235 

he  is  a  king  of  death  among  the  dead,  a  ghoul  amid 
the  tombs,  a  galvanized  corpse  mimicking  life  in  a 
sepulchre,  a  starving  vampire  amid  the  skeletons  of 
nations,  a  throned  shadow  aping  the  old  despotism 
that  once  set  its  heel  upon  kings.  The  scarlet 
mantled  harlot  of  prophecy,  drunk  with  the  blood 
of  saints,  sits  still  upon  the  seven  hills,  with  the  pro- 
phetical name  upon  her  forehead,  seen  in  vision  by 
the  apostle  John,  "Mystery,  Babylon  the  great;" 
but  her  strength  is  broken,  the  shuddering  nations 
will  no  more  drink  from  the  golden  cup  of  her  abo- 
minations ;  she  waits  the  day  of  her  predicted  doom. 
Rome  is  a  city  of  dead  men's  bones,  a  tomb  of  giants 
haunted  by  pigmies.  The  kingdom  spoken  of  in  the 
text  is  not  there;  the  spiritual  tyranny  that  is  en- 
throned in  the  place  of  God  in  the  western  church 
had  its  beginning  and  will  have  its  end ;  it  is  an 
antichristian  usurpation,  whose  days  are  numbered 
by  the  sure  word  of  prophecy;  the  Pontiffs  are  des- 
tined to  the  same  doom  as  the  Caesars.  The  fate  of 
the  empire  will  overtake  the  remorseless  despotism 
which  has  ever  imitated  the  splendour  of  Pagan 
Rome,  and  fashioned  itself  after  the  model  of  its 
government,  and  baptised  its  heathenish  ritual  with 
Christian  names ;  which  has  travestied  the  example 
of  the  Lycaonians,  who  called  Paul  Jupiter  and  Bar- 
nabas Mercurius,  by  worshipping  Jupiter  under  the 
name  of  Peter,  and  the  demi-gods  under  the  appel- 
lation of  saints. 

The  souls  of  the  martyrs,  whose  blood  the  Papacy 
has  shed  for  the  word  of  God  and  the  testimony  of 
Jesus,  does  still  cry  out  from  under  the  altar,  saying, 
"  How  long,  0  Lord,  holy  and  true  dost  thou  not 


236  PERPETUITY   OF    THE    CHURCH. 

judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  in 
the  earth  ?"  and  voices  in  heaven  and  earth  respond, 
"Their  judgment  now  of  a  long  time  lingereth  not." 
Where  is  the  kingdom  among  men  that  has  not 
been  moved,  from  the  golden  head  seen  in  Daniel's 
vision  of  the  four  great  monarchies,  to  the  feet  of 
iron  and  clay  ?  Have  they  not  all  been  broken  with- 
out hand  and  perished  for  ever?  Are  not  the  solemn 
words  "passing  away"  engraven  on  all  the  monu- 
ments of  modern  civilization,  on  all  the  glory  of  the 
existing  nations  ?  "What  naming  portents  of  change 
and  revolution  come  flashing  across  the  Atlantic, 
visible  in  the  new  world ;  what  rumors  of  oppres- 
sion, usurpation  and  war  are  wafted  on  the  winds; 
what  wailing  of  the  down  trodden  populations  of 
Europe  sweeps  sighing  over  the  ocean !  Have  they 
not  found,  from  an  exile  on  our  own  shores,  a  voice 
of  surpassing  eloquence,  penetrating  all  hearts,  filling 
all  eyes  with  tears  of  compassion  and  sympathy? 
Like  the  restless  waves  the  kingdoms  of  our  own 
day  are  moved ;  they  stagger  to  and  fro  like  drunken 
men ;  they  heave  like  the  earth,  which  treasures  in 
its  bosom  the  fires  of  the  volcano ;  as  Samson,  bound 
to  the  pillars  of  Dagon's  house,  shook  its  foundations 
in  his  death  agony,  so  the  populations  of  the  world 
are  writhing  in  their  chains  and  shaking  the  eccle- 
siastical and  political  despotisms  which  crush  them. 
Those  scenes  which  were  witnessed  a  few  years 
since  in  Europe  seem  about  to  be  repeated ; 

When  Death  was  riding  grimly  forth  with  Terror  by  his  side, 
And  blood  stained  war  and  pestilence,  and  famine  hollow  eyed. 

And  while  the  kingdoms  of  the  old  world  are 
moved,  is  there  no  danger  for  us  ?     Shall  we  pre- 


J.    C.    LORD,   D.    D.  237 

sume  upon  our  precocious  infancy,  upon  our  gigantic 
and  vigorous  youth,  in  our  wide  territory  and  ra- 
pidly advancing  population,  in  our  free  institutions 
and  glorious  union  of  States?  Is  there  not  danger 
that  we  may  forget  our  exposedness  to  this  universal 
law  of  change?  Have  not  clouds  already  arisen 
upon  our  horizon,  which,  though  no  bigger  than  a 
man's  hand,  have  threatened  the  dissolution  of  the 
Republic,  and  darkened  the  hopes  of  political  and 
religious  liberty  over  the  world  ?  Have  we  not  seen 
enough  to  teach  us  the  mutability  of  national  great- 
ness, and  to  lead  us  to  implore  the  Founder  and 
Ruler  of  nations  to  preserve  that  which  he  has 
established,  to  save  us  from  evil  counsels,  from  ruin- 
ous divisions,  that  we  may  not  perish  as  a  people  in 
our  childhood,  but  may  at  least  pass  through  the 
period  ordinarily  allotted  to  great  empires,  and  that 
we  may  not  madly  hasten  and  anticipate  that  de- 
cline and  decay  which  sooner  or  later  fall  upon  the 
most  fortunate  kingdoms  of  this  world  ? 

But  you  have  already  anticipated  the  direct  an- 
swer to  the  question,  "  where  is  this  law  of  perma- 
nence? where  is  the  unchangeable  foundation  of 
which  the  apostle  speaks  in  the  text  ?  You  know 
it  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  church  purchased  by 
the  blood  of  Christ,  the  people  assured  to  him  in  the 
counsels  of  the  eternal  Trinity,  and  by  the  covenant 
of  redemption.  But  a  question  still  remains.  Where 
is  the  attribute  of  permanency  manifested  ?  In  what 
does  this  unchangeableness  consist  ?  There  are  va- 
rious aspects  under  which  the  kingdom  of  Christ  may 
be  considered.  In  which  does  the  declaration  of  the 
apostle  find  its  verification  ?     Let  us  briefly  reply. 


238  PERPETUITY  OF   THE    CHURCH. 

In  order  intelligibly  to  decide  this  inquiry,  we 
must  look  for  those  things  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
which  exhibit  the  unity  of  the  church  ;  which  have 
been  the  same  in  all  generations,  and  which  must 
continue  the  same  to  the  end. 

It  will  not  be  denied,  by  any  called  Christians, 
that  this  immovable  kingdom  has  existed  from  the 
beginning;  that  the  Church  was  founded  in  the 
family  of  Adam,  and  had  its  fundamental  doctrine 
in  the  word  which  God  uttered  in  the  ears  of  our 
apostate  progenitors,  as  they  were  driven  forth  from 
Eden,  "the  seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the 
serpent's  head ;"  that  it  had  its  first  sacrament  in  the 
lamb  offered  by  Abel  as  an  expiation,  symbolising 
the  lamb  of  God  slain  in  the  divine  purpose  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world.  What  the  external 
order  of  worship  was  in  the  antediluvian  church  we 
know  not,  but  it  is  obvious  that  the  apostle,  in  the 
text,  has  no  reference  to  this,  because  he  is  con* 
trasting  the  visibilities  of  the  Hebrew  economy, 
which  were  now  passing  away  with  that  in  the 
Church,  which  is  ever  unchangeable.  "And  this 
word,"  says  the  apostle,  "  signifieth  the  remaining 
of  those  that  are  shaken  as  of  things  that  are  made, 
that  those  things  which  cannot  be  shaken  may 
remain,  wherefore  we,  receiving  a  kingdom  that 
cannot  be  moved,  let  us  have  grace  whereby  we 
may  serve  God  acceptably,  with  reverence  and  with 
godly  fear."  As  though  he  had  said  that  which  is 
external  and  visible  in  the  Hebrew  economy  is 
shaken,  and  will  pass  away  with  all  temporal  things ; 
what  is  immovable  and  unchangeable  in  the  king- 
dom of  God  and  of  Christ,  we  receive  in  the  dispen- 


J.    C.    LORD,    D.   D.  239 

sation  of  the  Gospel,  which  is  committed  to  us. 
The  external  order  of  the  Church  has  ever  partaken 
of  the  same  law  of  change  which  we  observe  in 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world.  There  have  been  va- 
rious dispensations,  various  external  successions,  and 
diverse  forms  of  government  in  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  The  Church  has  worshipped  under  different 
forms  and  administrations ;  she  has  had  priesthoods 
and  rituals,  and  she  has  been  without  them ;  she 
has  had  sacred  localities  to  which  her  service  has 
been  confined,  and  where  it  has  been  prescribed. 
"  Our  fathers,"  said  the  woman  of  Samaria,  "  wor- 
shipped in  this  mountain,  and  ye  say  that  in  Jeru- 
salem is  the  place  where  men  ought  to  worship. 
Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Woman,  believe  me,  the  hour 
cometh  when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor 
yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father."  The  He- 
brew was  shut  up  to  the  hill  of  Zion ;  the  tribes 
went  up  to  worship  God  at  the  sacred  temple ;  there 
was  the  holy  of  holies ;  there  was  the  Shekinah,  the 
visible  glory  of  the  invisible  king ;  there  only  could 
the  sacrifice  of  the  law  be  offered.  Of  that  locality 
the  Holy  Ghost  had  uttered  these  words,  "His 
foundation  is  the  holy  mountain ;  the  Lord  loveth 
the  gates  of  Zion  more  than  all  the  dwelling  places 
of  Jacob ;  glorious  things  are  spoken  of  thee,  0  city 
of  God;  all  my  springs  are  in  thee."  But  the  true 
succession,  the  unchangeable  priesthood,  the  one 
sacrifice  that  perfecteth  for  ever,  was  not  in  the  tem- 
ple service  which  passed  away,  because  it  was  but  a 
shadow  of  the  substantial  things  in  that  kingdom 
that  cannot  be  moved.  The  same  faith  that  had 
been   symbolised  in  the  temple  for  centuries,  pre- 


240  PERPETUITY   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

served,  as  in  a  fortified  city,  by  the  Hebrew,  to  whom 
was  committed  the  oracles  of  God,  embalmed  in  his 
economy,  defended  like  some  forms  of  life  in  nature 
in  the  chrysalis  state,  until  the  appointed  day  of 
their  enlargement,  when  they  can  spread  their  wings 
safely  in  the  sun.  The  faith  of  Abel,  and  Enoch, 
and  Noah,  and  Abraham,  was  now  proclaimed  in 
every  valley  and  on  every  mountain.  Christ  cru- 
cified was  set  forth  in  every  habitation,  from  the 
palace  of  Nero  at  Rome,  to  the  hut  of  the  savage 
Scythian  in  the  northern  wilderness.  "  The  Church 
of  God,  which  is  in  thy  house,"  was  the  language 
of  the  apostles  in  their  epistles  to  the  brethren ; 
the  congregation  of  believers  assembled  for  worship 
in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth ;  the  sacred  symbols, 
of  the  most  holy  passion  of  our  Lord,  were  exhibited 
in  fields  and  forests,  or  wherever  else  the  Christian 
minister  and  his  flock  could  escape  from  the  obser- 
vation of  their  persecutors.  The  ensigns  of  the 
kingdom  that  cannot  be  moved  went  out  from  the 
temple  and  the  ritual  of  the  Hebrews,  to  be  given  to 
the  breeze  in  every  island,  and  continent,  and  sea. 

Nor  is  ecclesiastical  order  in  the  house  of  God  the 
element  of  permanency  spoken  of  in  the  text.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  of  its  value  and  importance  in  its 
place,  but  it  is  very  certain  that  no  visible  priest- 
hood, no  one  form  of  church  government,  no  un- 
broken succession  of  ordinations  or  ordinances  have 
constituted  or  manifested  the  unchangeableness  of 
that  kingdom  that  cannot  be  moved.  There  are 
many  administrations,  though  but  one  Lord.  The 
Church  is  represented  by  the  apostle  as  having  an 
unchangeable  priesthood  only  in  Christ,  who  abideth 


J.    C.    LORD,    D.    D.  241 

for  ever ;  the  doctrines  of  the  Cross  and  not  the  forms 
in  which  they  are  exhibited  remain,  through  succes- 
sive dispensations,  and  survive  them  all,  the  same 
with  the  divine  Authors  "yesterday,  to-day  and 
for  ever." 

There  is  an  analogy  in  civil  governments  which 
are  ordained  of  God,  in  which  we  perceive  a  diver- 
sity of  administrations,  or  rather  a  diversity  of  forms 
under  which  they  may  be  and  are  administered. 
We  have  a  right  to  our  opinion  as  to  which  of  these 
is  preferable,  but  it  is  no  where  contended  that  go- 
vernment can  have  no  valid  existence  except  in  a 
particular  mode.  "We  think  the  Scriptures  clearly 
make  the  validity  of  statutes,  and  the  recognition  of 
the  authority  of  the  magistrate  to  consist,  not  in  the 
form  but  in  the  fact  of  government,  and  this  is 
agreeable  to  the  principles  of  international  law. 
States  do  not  refuse  to  recognise  each  other  because 
their  governments  are  administered  under  different 
forms ;  it  is  only  a  condition  of  anarchy  which  is  out 
of  the  pale  of  all  national  fellowship.  "  The  powers 
that  be,"  says  the  apostle,  "are  ordained  of  God," 
that  is,  existing  powers  or  administrations,  under 
whatever  diversities  they  appear;  the  fact  and  not 
the  form  of  government  is  that  which  is  divinely 
ordained,  and  hence  the  former  is  universal  and  un- 
changeable, according  to  the  purpose  and  will  of  the 
supreme  Governor,  while  in  respect  to  the  latter 
there  is  no  law  of  permanency,  but  rather  one  of 
change,  accommodated  to  the  wants,  the  progress 
and  circumstances  of  particular  nations,  ages  and 
races.  Is  there  any  evidence  that  a  different  prin- 
ciple prevails  for  the  government  of  the  church,  or 
17 


242  PERPETUITY   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

that  God  has  prescribed  an  infallible  order  of  exter- 
nal rituals,  without  which  all  faith  and  all  penitence 
are  vain?  Has  the  Most  High  bound  his  Church  to 
any  thing  more  than  the  fact  of  government,  upon 
the  general  principles  found  in  the  New  Testament, 
since  the  day  that  the  shadows  of  the  Hebrew  eco- 
nomy gave  place  to  the  light  and  liberty  of  the  gos- 
pel dispensation?  While  we  endeavour  to  approxi- 
mate as  nearly  as  possible  to  what  appears  to  us  to 
have  been  the  order  of  the  apostles  and  the  primi- 
tive Church,  have  we  a  right  to  refuse  to  all  others 
the  Christian  name;  to  say  with  the  Jews,  "The 
temple  of  the  Lord  are  we,"  or  to  exclude  from  the 
pale  of  the  visible  kingdom  of  God  and  from  our 
Christian  charity,  those  who  cast  out  devils  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  though  they  follow  not  with  us? 
That  charity  has  its  boundaries  we  freely  concede, 
but  we  do  not  believe  that  they  are  to  be  found  in 
mere  questions  of  church  order,  for  these  are  not  the 
immutable  foundations  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
Wherever  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  gospel 
are  denied,  there  is  no  basis  for  fellowship,  and  to 
form  one  in  such  a  case  is  betraying  the  Master  into 
the  hands  of  his  enemies.  f<  If  there  come  any  to 
you,"  says  the  apostle  John,  "  and  bring  not  this  doc- 
trine, receive  him  not  into  your  house,  neither  bid 
him  God  speed  ;  he  that  abideth  not  in  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  hath  not  God,  and  every  spirit  that  con- 
fesseth  not  that  Jesus  Christ  has  come  in  the  flesh 
is  not  of  God ;  he  is  antichrist  that  denieth  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  Son,  and  whosoever  denieth  the  Son 
the  same  hath  not  the  Father."  The  doctrines  of 
the  divinity,  incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  Christ,  of 


J.    C.    LORD,    D.    D.  243 

the  divinity  and  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  his 
work  of  conviction,  regeneration  and  sanctification, 
of  salvation  by  grace  without  the  deeds  of  the  law 
and  of  eternal  judgment,  are  fundamental  in  the 
gospel  scheme,  and  if  rejected  compel  us  to  refuse 
fellowship  with  those  who  deny  them. 

That  is  a  true  Church  which  maintains  what  has 
been  common  in  all  the  dispensations  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ — the  doctrine  of  redemption  by  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  symbol  or  sacra- 
ment of  it  as  found  in  all  the  economies  of  the 
Church.  The  first  revelation  of  the  truth  was  in  the 
garden ;  its  symbol  or  sacrament,  which  is  the  visible 
sign  and  expression  of  it,  was  in  the  sacrifices  com- 
mon to  all  the  dispensations  of  the  Church  until  the 
coming  of  Christ,  when  the  Lord's  supper  took  its 
place,  pointing  back  to  the  cross,  or  to  a  perfected 
work,  as  the  former  had  prefigured  it  before  its  con- 
summation. Upon  this  view  that  congregation  of 
worshippers  who  profess  the  common  doctrine,  and 
exhibit  the  common  sacrament,  which  has  been  main- 
tained in  the  kingdom  of  God  in  all  ages,  dispensa- 
tions and  changes,  is  a  true  Church  of  Christ,  and  to 
be  recognised  as  such  by  all  believers,  Avhatever  ex- 
ternal differences  of  order,  ritual  or  government  may 
distinguish  them. 

But  there  is  another  aspect  in  which  this  subject 
may  be  presented,  another  sense  in  which  the  im- 
mutability, and,  consequently,  the  real  visibility  and 
unity  of  the  church  may  be  apprehended.  The  king- 
dom of  grace,  as  established  in  the  soul  of  every  be- 
liever, called  according  to  the  purpose  of  God,  is  one 
that  is  immovable;  and  that  this  is  principally  in- 


244  PERPETUITY   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

tended  in  the  text,  may  be  argued  from  the  form  of 
the  expression,  "we  receiving  a  kingdom  that  can- 
not be  moved,"  for  we  come  to  what  is  external  and 
ritual  in  the  church ;  ice  receive  what  is  renewing  and 
sanctifying ;  we  come  by  a  public  profession  to  the 
city  of  the  living  God;  ice  receive  by  divine  grace 
"  the  kingdom  of  heaven  within  us." 

The  kingdom  of  grace  is  that  principle  of  holiness 
which  is  imparted  to,  and  sustained  in,  the  soul  by 
the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  practically  manifest  and  visi- 
ble to  men  in  a  cordial  reception  of  divine  truth,  and 
in  practical  obedience  to  the  commandments.  It  is 
known  by  its  unity  of  faith  and  character  in  all 
ages  and  dispensations.  Here  is  the  abiding  unity 
of  the  Church  from  the  family  of  Adam  to  the 
present  day,  and  to  the  existing  company  of  be- 
lievers, by  whatever  name  called  ;  here  is  the  "  holy 
generation,  the  royal  priesthood,  the  peculiar  peo- 
ple," whose  succession  is  visible  not  merely  from  the 
apostles,  and  for  the  last  two  thousand  years,  but 
for  sixty  centuries,  and  from  Abel  and  Enoch,  from 
Noah  and  Abraham.  As  the  book  of  Genesis  and 
the  gospel  of  Mathew,  as  the  revelation  of  Job  and 
that  of  John,  contain  the  same  doctrine,  so  there  is  a 
succession  of  men,  from  the  apostacy  to  the  present 
time,  receiving  the  same  faith,  practising  the  same 
godliness,  and  exhibiting  the  same  sacrament.  Here 
is  the  remnant  after  the  election  of  grace,  here  the 
true  Israel,  for  what  is  real  and  fundamental  in 
Christian  experience  is  real  and  fundamental  in  the 
visibility  of  the  Church,  and  constitutes  that  true 
unity  which  binds  together  all  true  believers  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  world. 


J.    C.    LORD   D.    D.  245 

But,  more  particularly,  let  us  inquire  why  this 
kingdom  of  grace  cannot  be  moved. 

1.  Because  it  is  a  spiritual  kingdom  set  up  in  the 
soul  itself,  which  does  not  partake  of  the  changeable 
character  of  temporal  foundations.  "  The  things 
that  are  seen  are  temporal,"  even  in  the  Church  of 
God ;  but  the  things  which  are  unseen  are  eternal. 
The  visible  and  external  dispensations  of  the  Church 
have  each  in  turn  been  shaken  and  moved,  and 
shall  be ;  its  rituals  and  ordinances,  its  government 
and  sacraments,  have  their  appointed  day,  and  must 
at  last  disappear,  when  time  is  swallowed  up  in 
eternity,  and  death  in  victory ;  but  the  kingdom  of 
grace,  set  up  in  the  soul,  abides  for  ever.  The 
heavens  shall  pass  away,  the  elements  shall  melt 
with  fervent  heat,  all  visible  things  and  forms  shall 
wax  old,  and,  as  worn  out  vestures,  shall  be  folded 
up,  but  this  kingdom,  like  its  Author,  shall  not  fail, 
and  of  its  years  there  shall  be  no  end. 

This  kingdom  shall  not  be  moved  for  another 
reason.  It  originated  in  the  purpose  of  God,  and  is 
maintained  by  his  power.  It  can  never  die  out  of 
the  world,  because  the  Father  hath  given  a  seed  to 
the  Son  in  all  generations ;  because,  in  the  covenant 
of  redemption,  the  heathen  are  promised  to  him  for 
his  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth 
for  a  possession.  The  Church  for  this  has  survived 
all  changes,  outlived  all  persecutions,  and,  with  im- 
mortal youth,  walks  among  the  graves  of  false  phi- 
losophies, of  decayed  superstitions,  purifying  the 
polluted  atmosphere,  and  pointing  the  heirs  of  sin 
and  death  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  unde- 
filed,  eternal  in  the  heavens.     So,  in  the  soul,  if  the 


246  PERPETUITY  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

kingdom  of  grace  be  set  up,  it  cannot  be  moved ; 
for  it  is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth,  it  is  Christ  that 
died,  yea  rather  that  is  risen  again,  who  ever  liveth  to 
make  intercession  for  us,  so  that  neither  death,  nor 
life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor 
things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  heighth,  nor 
depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  sepa- 
rate us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord." 

This  kingdom  cannot  be  moved  because  it  is  that 
on  account  of  which  all  others  exist.  God  perpetu- 
ates the  race,  and  ordains  governments  and  exercises 
a  universal  providence  over  the  evil  and  the  good, 
for  the  reason  that  he  has  a  people  which  he  will 
take  out  of  all  nations  and  races.  For  this  the 
wicked  live,  because  in  their  generations  are  num- 
bered the  elect ;  for  this  empires  are  founded,  and 
nourish  and  fall ;  for  this  the  tares  and  the  wheat 
grow  together  till  the  harvest;  for  this  "the  hea- 
then are  permitted  to  rage  and  the  people  to  ima- 
gine a  vain  thing,"  until  the  day  when  all  nations 
shall  hear  the  voice  of  him  that  sitteth  in  the  hea- 
vens, saying,  "  Yet  have  I  set  my  king  upon  my  holy 
hill  of  Zion,  and  I  will  give  him  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  his  possession."  All  temporal  king- 
doms are  but  scaffolding  for  the  building  of  God;  all 
revolutions  tend  to  accomplish  his  designs.  Wars 
break  down  the  barriers  which  prevent  the  progress 
of  the  gospel;  migrations  for  gold  are  caravans  to 
carry  the  Bible  and  the  missionary  of  the  Cross  to 
the  dark  places  of  the  earth.  God  and  the  Church 
are  the  explanation  of  history,  without  which  it  is  a 
dark  unreadable  enigma. 


J.    C.    LORD,   D.   D.  247 

This  kingdom  of  grace  is  immovable,  because  its 
author  and  head,  its  prophet,  priest  and  king,  is 
divine,  co-equal  and  co-eternal  with  the  Father  and 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  eternity  and  immutability 
of  his  nature  attaches  itself  to  the  church  purchased 
by  his  blood;  because  he  lives  and  reigns,  his  people 
shall  live  and  reign  with  him.  The  two  natures  of 
the  God-man  mediator  may  be  said  to  symbolise  the 
two  aspects  under  which  his  church  may  be  viewed ; 
in  one  we  see  the  weakness  and  changeableness  of 
finite  things,  in  the  external  order  of  his  visible  king- 
dom, in  its  exposedness  to  corruptness,  declensions 
and  heresies  ;  in  its  various  dispensations  and  chang- 
ing rituals ;  in  the  other,  we  see  the  law  of  absolute 
permanency  in  the  one  faith  and  the  one  sacrament 
preserved  in  all  generations.  So  in  the  individual 
Christian,  the  weakness  of  a  finite  nature  and  its 
remaining  corruptions  are  ever  in  noticeable  con- 
trast with  the  power  of  that  divine  life  in  the  souls 
of  believers,  which  is  the  working  of  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit, who  is  able  to  keep  them  from  falling,  as  the 
Son  in  his  own  righteousness  is  able  to  present  them 
faultless  and  spotless  before  the  presence  of  the  Fa- 
ther with  exceeding  joy. 

Finally,  do  you  inquire  how  can  a  congregation 
of  professed  worshippers  know  that  they  belong  to 
this  immovable  kingdom ;  how  can  the  individual 
satisfy  himself  whether  he  be  of  the  household  of 
faith  to  whom  pertain  the  promises  ?  The  answer 
is  easy ;  upon  the  principles  we  have  suggested,  the 
congregation  have  only  to  ascertain  whether  they 
have  the  faith  and  the  sacrament  that  has  charac- 
terised the  true  Church  in  all  her  dispensations ;  for 


248  PERPETUITY  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

this  they  must  search  the  Scriptures,  and  seek  to 
know  the  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  them, 
the  only  infallible  guide  to  truth  ard  judge  of  con- 
troversies. 

There  is  no  view  of  the  subject  which  can  furnish 
so  solid  a  ground  of  satisfaction  to  the  individual  as 
the  one  we  have  suggested.  Whether  he  has  re- 
ceived this  kingdom,  is  upon  the  basis  presented,  a 
matter  of  consciousness ;  it  is  not  a  matter  of  inves- 
tigation, of  endless  genealogies,  full  of  difficulties 
which  perplex  even  the  learned,  but  a  question  of 
fact  in  the  believer's  personal  experience.  Is  the 
kingdom  of  God  within  him  2  Is  the  love  of  God 
shed  abroad  in  his  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Are 
the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  manifested  in  his  life  ?  Are 
the  truths  of  the  gospel  dear  to  him  ?  Does  he  cleave 
to  Christ  and  his  imputed  righteousness  as  the  sole 
ground  of  his  justification?  Are  the  doctrines  which 
exalt  God  and  stain  the  pride  of  human  glory  pre- 
cious to  his  soul  ?  Has  he  some  foretaste  of  heaven 
in  the  religious  emotions,  the  gratitude  and  praise 
that  are  kindred  in  his  bosom?  Has  he  received  the 
same  spiritual  baptism  with  holy  men  of  old,  and 
does  he  find  the  revelation  of  his  own  conflict  with 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  in  the  inspired 
record  of  their  trials  and  their  experience  ?  Is  not 
here  the  only  reasonable  and  satisfactory  assurance 
of  eternal  life  ?  Is  not  all  else  of  the  nature  of  for- 
malism or  rationalism  vague,  uncertain  and  unsatis- 
factory?    I  speak  to  wise  men,  judge  ye! 


SEEING  THINGS  INVISIBLE. 


J.  H.  JONES,  D.  D. 

PASTOR   OF   THE    SIXTH   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    PHILADELPHIA. 


We  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  aie 
not  seen. — 2  Cor.  iv.  18. 

And  this  furnishes  a  key  to  the  changed  conduct 
and  life  of  Paul  after  his  conversion.  His  sundering 
of  personal,  social,  and  domestic  ties ;  his  voluntary 
renunciation  of  so  many  things  that  were  gain  to 
him — wealth,  distinction,  and  honour — for  the  sake 
of  Christ.  However  appalling  to  others  the  prospect 
before  him — disgrace,  poverty,  extreme  bodily  peril, 
and  probable  martyrdom — yet  none  of  these  things 
moved  him.  There  were  other  things,  and  greater 
far  than  these,  by  which  he  was  influenced,  and 
which  had  a  substantial  presence,  though  invisible 
to  the  eye  of  sense.  Those  grand  and  awful  realities 
of  the  unseen  world  that  were  hidden  from  others 
were  visible  to  him.  Hence  the  apostle  acted  as 
if  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead,  to  whom  he  was 
to  give  account,  was  ever  present  to  counsel,  direct, 
and  overawe  him.     But  what  is  here  asserted  by  the 

(249) 


250  SEEING   THINGS   INVISIBLE. 

author  of  our  text  concerning  himself,  is  verified  in 
the  life  of  all  who  are  governed  by  his  principles. 
While  the  things  that  present  the  predominant  mo- 
tives of  their  conduct  are  not  seen,  they  act  as  if 
they  were  habitually  before  them,  as  really  as  are 
the  objects  of  sense,  which  so  much  affect  the  con- 
duct of  others.  This  is  the  truth  on  which  it  is 
proposed  to  enlarge  in  this  discourse,  and  use  for  our 
practical  advantage. 

The  thought  here  is  complex,  and  may  be  ex- 
pressed in  the  two  following  propositions  : 

I.  That  the  things  which  furnish  the  most  cogent 
motives  to  a  religious  life  are  invisible,  but 

II.  That  the  consistent  believer  lives  habitually 
as  if  he  saw  them. 

The  former  of  these  propositions,  it  is  well  known, 
has  been  urged  by  the  sceptical  as  a  serious  objec- 
tion to  our  religion,  viz  :  that  its  motives  are,  to  such 
an  extent,  derived  from  things  unseen,  and  not  from 
objects  best  suited  to  affect  us  in  our  present  condi- 
tion ;  that  its  rewards  and  punishments  are,  in  the 
main,  prospective,  and  look  to  a  future  state,  and  not 
the  present.  The  same  has  been  said  of  its  doctrines 
generally,  that  they  are  abstruse  and  incomprehen- 
sible. What  a  dense  and  impenetrable  mist  of  dark- 
ness hangs  over  the  grave  !  Death,  we  are  taught, 
is  but  the  beginning  of  an  endless  life ;  that  it  is  not 
the  end  of  consciousness,  but  a  physical  change 
merely — a  separation  of  the  mortal  from  the  immor- 
tal part  of  man  for  a  season  only,  when  they  are  to 
be  reunited  in  a  state  of  eternal  retribution.  But 
how  little  of  this  is  warranted  by  what  we  see? 
Even  the  Saviour,  who  is  represented  as  the  only 


J.   H.   JONES,   D.    D.  251 

hope  of  the  guilty,  is  also  concealed ;  and  God  no 
man  hath  seen  nor  can  see.  He  dwelleth  in  light 
which  no  man  can  approach  unto,  and  why  is  this? 
Why  should  that  sort  of  truth,  on  whose  practical 
influence  depends  the  eternal  welfare  of  the  soul,  be 
so  hidden  from  our  senses  ?  Why  not  indulge  us 
occasionally  with  the  sight  of  a  resurrection — a  fa- 
vour which  it  is  so  easy  for  God  to  grant  ?  Why  not 
permit  the  reappearing  of  a  departed  acquaintance 
or  relative,  to  tell  us  about  the  invisible  world? 
Why  could  not  Paul,  or  Augustine,  Luther,  Baxter, 
Watts,  or  some  other  distinguished  saint,  come  back 
to  the  earth  for  a  time,  as  Moses  and  Elias  did  for 
the  special  instruction  of  Peter  and  John?  What  a 
confirmation  of  our  faith  if  we  might  be  permitted 
to  see  them ! 

The  objection  implied  in  these  and  similar  queries 
would  be  reasonable,  if  the  evidence  of  sense  were 
the  only  sort  that  is  satisfactory  and  conclusive ;  or 
were  the  main  obstacles  to  a  practical  belief  of  the 
truth  to  be  found  in  the  mind,  and  capable  of  being 
dislodged  by  argument,  and  not  in  the  heart  beyond 
the  reach  of  any  appeals  merely  to  the  reason; 
or  had  not  the  impotency  of  ocular  demonstration 
been  exposed  by  repeated  cases  of  restoration  to  life, 
and  in  none  more  signal  than  the  example  of  Laza- 
rus. But  the  influence  of  vision  was  tried,  and  its  in- 
efficiency shown,  under  both  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New.  The  Saviour  tested  its  power  in  the  case 
to  which  I  have  just  referred,  and  had  he  opened  the 
door  of  the  unseen  world  a  hundred  times,  and 
evoked  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  scores  of  de- 
parted Hebrews  from  the  unseen  world,  it  could  have 


252  SEEING   THINGS   INVISIBLE. 

proved  no  more  concerning  a  future  state  of  existence 
than  was  witnessed  in  thus  recalling  the  spirit  of 
one  of  the  family  at  Bethany.  The  Jews,  who  saw 
this  resurrection,  were  just  as  sceptical  afterwards 
as  they  had  been  before.  Nor  would  your  heart, 
reader,  nor  mine,  be  more  impressed  by  the  sight  of 
apparitions  from  the  other  world  than  theirs  were. 
It  is  equally  true  concerning  us,  that  if  we  hear  not 
Moses,  the  prophets  and  aj)Ostles,  neither  will  we  be 
persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  the  dead. 

It  is  a  mistake,  therefore,  to  assert  that  the  mo- 
tives of  religion  are  so  inoperative,  because  they  are 
drawn  from  things  not  seen  or  remote.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  could  easily  be  shown  that  our  know- 
ledge, even  of  sensible  objects,  is  rather  presumptive 
than  real,  and  that  our  senses  are  continually  lead- 
ing us  into  error.  Indeed,  the  terms  of  what  we  call 
,  science  are  rather  symbols  of  what  we  do  not  know, 
than  exponents  of  what  we  do  know.  There  is 
much  that  is  mysterious  and  inexplicable  in  matter, 
motion,  electricity,  life,  &c,  as  well  as  in  original 
sin,  the  Trinity,  or  regeneration.  The  technical  de- 
finitions of  philosophy  would  seem  to  be  invented  to 
conceal  her  ignorance ;  and  we  are  just  as  unac- 
quainted with  the  real  nature  or  essence  of  things 
that  we  see,  taste  and  feel,  as  we  are  with  the  in- 
visible tilings  of  God.  It  is  well  known  that  Dr. 
Berkeley,  bishop  of  Cloyne,  disproved  the  existence 
of  matter  in  opposition  to  the  testimony  of  the 
senses,  and  not  by  quibble  and  sophistical  reasoning, 
but,  as  Reid  says,  by  taking  up  the  principles  laid 
down  by  Descartes,  Malebranche,  and  Locke,  and 
carrying  them  out  to  their  legitimate  conclusions. 


J.    H.    JONES,   D.   D.  253 

It  is  the  boast  of  those  who  reject  the  supernatural 
and  unseen  in  religion,  that  we  have  a  competent 
guide  and  instructor  in  reason ;  but  the  history  of 
the  inquiries  which  philosophers  have  instituted 
into  the  powers  and  laws  of  the  mind,  is  suited  to 
impress  us  far  more  deeply  with  the  imperfection  of 
our  faculties  than  their  greatness. 

It  is  now  the  nineteenth  century  of  progress  in 
human  philosophy  since  the  advent ;  ample  time,  we 
should  say,  for  arriving  at  definite  conclusions  on  the 
most  familiar  subjects,  as,  for  example,  the  problem 
of  our  own  nature,  the  number,  the  office,  and  the 
laws  of  our  several  faculties.  We  should  naturally 
suppose  it  to  be  easier  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  these 
than  of  the  elements  and  laws  of  the  material  world. 
And  yet  there  is  no  question,  among  the  metaphy- 
sicians of  the  day,  more  absolutely  unsettled  than 
this.  Some  of  them  tell  us  that  "  God  is  the  only 
cause  in  the  universe,  and  that  we  are  but  the  sub- 
jects or  organs  of  effects  which  he  immediately  pro- 
duces. Others,  that  we  are  real  and  responsible 
agents.  Some  teach  that  creatures  are  a  part  of  God ; 
others,  that  God  is  but  the  aggregate  of  his  creatures ; 
and  others  again,  that  we  are  wholly  material,  mind, 
soul,  and  body,  and  that  we  perish  at  death ;  most, 
however,  that  we  have  a  spiritual  and  immaterial, 
as  well  as  corporeal  nature.  Some  maintain  that 
none  of  our  perceptions  and  thoughts  are  any  thing 
more  than  sensations ;  others  that  we  have  ideas 
of  immaterial  things,  as  well  as  of  those  that  are 
discerned  by  the  senses.  Some  that  we  indeed  have 
conceptions  of  God,  but  are  without  any  proofs  of 
their  truth ;    others  that  we  are  capable  of  a  real 


254  SEEING   THINGS   INVISIBLE. 

knowledge  of  him.  Many  contend  that  we  put 
forth  our  choice  under  the  impulse  of  blind  power, 
and  others  that  we  exert  our  volitions  for  reasons 
of  which  we  are  conscious." 

Here  then,  are  no  less  than  twelve  proposed  so- 
lutions of  this  problem  of  our  nature,  which  appears 
to  be  just  as  open  to  debate  now  as  it  ever  was. 
We  might  turn,  then,  upon  the  boaster  of  the  suffi- 
ciency of  reason  and  inquire,  Why  is  this?  Why  is 
knowledge  derived  through  the  senses  or  by  study 
so  uncertain  and  unsatisfying?  Why  are  things 
tangible  and  visible  so  deceptive,  that  we  need  only 
love  and  follow  them  with  all  our  heart  to  be  in- 
volved in  certain  ruin?  Though  they  inspire  us 
with  the  highest  hopes,  they  fulfil  none  of  their  pro- 
mises. They  never  make  us  happier  in  this  world, 
nor  fit  us  to  be  happy  in  the  world  to  come.  What 
other  explanation  can  be  given  of  this  perplexing 
fact  than  that  which  is  furnished  by  the  volume  of 
Revelation  ?  Here  we  learn  that  the  ichole  creation 
groans  and  sympathizes  in  the  lapsed  and  unhappy 
condition  of  man.  That  the  "things  seen"  are  in 
their  very  nature  uncertain,  unsatisfying  and  falla- 
cious, and  that  those  which  are  real  and  worthy  of 
our  love  and  confidence  are  invisible.  And  while 
they  who  look  only  at  the  former  will  be  disap- 
pointed and  lost,  those  will  be  infallibly  happy  as 
well  as  safe  who  look  at  the  latter,  and  who  rely  on 
that  higher  good  which  lies  beyond  and  without  the 
scope  of  mortal  vision.  To  those  who  have  not 
made  the  trial,  this  may  seem  impracticable,  but  it 
is  just  the  reverse  with  those  who  have  made  it,  and 
who,  like  the  apostle  Paul,  judge  from  experiment. 


J.    H.    JONES,    D.  D.  255 

Of  these  there  has  always  been  a  "little  flock"  in 
the  world,  from  Abel  and  Enoch  downwards,  and 
the  day  is  fast  approaching  when  their  number  will 
be  greatly  increased. 

Having  offered  these  few  hints  concerning  the 
former,  and  the  power  of  those  motives  which  are 
drawn  from  things  invisible,  I  proceed  to  notice  the 
other  truth  inculcated  by  the  apostle,  that 

II.  The  consistent  believer  lives  habitually  as  if 
he  saw  them.  He  "looks  not  at  the  things  that  are 
seen,  but  at  those  which  are  not  seen."  That  won- 
derful faculty,  by  which  a  man  is  enabled  to  realize 
the  paradox  of  seeing  the  things  that  are  invisible, 
is  called  faith.  And  because  both  classes  to  which  I 
refer,  they  who  look  at  the  visible  as  well  as  those 
who  look  at  the  things  not  seen,  lay  claim  to  this 
faith,  the  Scriptures  discriminate.  In  the  nomen- 
clature of  theology  the  faith  of  the  one  is  called  spec- 
ulative, and  the  other  an  evangelical  faith ;  a  differ- 
ence founded  not  on  the  comparative  amount  of  their 
intellect,  advantages  of  education,  standing  in  society, 
or  extent  even  of  their  religious  knowledge,  t  but 
solely  on  the  different  state  of  their  hearts. 

The  things  unseen,  though  commended  to  the 
mind  with  the  cogency  of  moral  demonstration,  are 
repelled  by  the  one,  because  they  are  distasteful. 
The  mind  assents  to  the  truth  of  them  as  things 
that  are  proved,  but  they  are  not  obeyed  because 
they  are  rejected  by  the  heart,  just  as  a  patient  often 
admits  the  excellency  of  a  medical  prescription,  which 
he  will  not  follow  because  it  is  nauseous.  This  is 
the  faith  of  one  class  of  believers.  In  the  case  of 
the  other,  these  invisible  things  receive  at  once  the 


256  SEEING   THINGS   INVISIBLE. 

approbation  of  the  mind  and  the  heart.  By  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Spirit  their  heart  has  been  so  pre- 
pared, that  its  affections  and  tastes  are  brought  into 
conformity  with  those  invisible  realities  of  the  spir- 
itual world,  which  are  now  made  to  influence  their 
conduct.  Hence  their  view  of  the  unseen  things, 
by  faith,  is  not  only  more  accurate,  but  it  is  more 
operative  than  are  any  discoveries  of  reason,  or  even 
of  sense. 

It  is  more  accurate.  Indeed,  as  it  is  the  pro- 
vince of  reason  to  correct  the  errors  of  sense,  it 
is  the  prerogative  of  faith  to  correct  the  mistakes 
of  reason.  If  we  look  upwards  and  survey  the  hea- 
vens, the  planet  Venus  appears  to  the  eye  as  diminu- 
tive as  the  blaze  of  a  candle.  This  is  an  error  of 
sense,  which  reason  corrects  by  having  discovered 
that  it  is  nearly  the  size  of  our  earth,  and  the  cause 
of  its  seeming  so  little  is  its  distance.  So  the  re- 
jecter of  Christianity  is  equally  deceived  by  his  rea- 
son in  his  estimate  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  cause  is 
the  same — his  immense  moral  distance.  "  This  mis- 
taken man  accounts  the  Saviour  and  his  glory  a 
smaller  matter  than  his  own  gain,  honour  or  plea- 
sure ;  for  these  are  near  to  him,  and  he  counts  them 
bigger,  yea,  and  far  more  valuable  than  they  really 
are."  But  they  who,  like  our  apostle,  can  look  at 
things  that  are  not  seen  by  others,  and  by  help  of 
the  telescope  of  faith  can  see  the  remote  glories  of 
Christ  in  their  proper  dimensions,  regard  the  coveted 
pleasures  and  honours  of  the  world  as  dross ;  they  are 
but  a  taper,  when  compared  with  the  light  of  the  sun. 

It  is  well  known,  moreover,  that  constant  sight 
produces  familiarity,  so  that  the  effect  of  objects 


J.    H.   JONES,   D.    D.  257 

seen  grows  less.  It  is  not  so  with  faith ;  this  be- 
comes stronger  by  continuance,  and  the  more  fre- 
quently we  dwell  upon  any  object  by  faith  the  more 
we  feel  its  power;  a  familiar  fact,  which  suggests 
another  answer  to  the  objection  against  Revelation, 
already  noticed,  founded  on  the  want  of  sensible 
evidence.  We  see  that  faith  is  better  adapted  to 
bring  the  sublime  truths  of  the  gospel  home  to  the 
soul,  and  make  them  to  be  felt  at  once,  and  more 
permanently,  than  if  they  were  apprehended  by 
reason  only,  or  sense. 

Reason,  says  Pascal,  acts  so  tardily,  and  on  the 
ground  of  so  many  different  views  and  principles, 
which  she  requires  to  have  always  before  her,  that 
she  is  continually  becoming  drowsy  and  inert,  or 
going  actively  astray  for  want  of  seeing  the  whole 
case  at  once.  It  were  well,  then,  after  our  reason 
has  ascertained  what  is  truth,  to  endeavour  to  feel 
it,  and  to  associate  our  faith  with  the  affections  of 
the  heart.  For  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unfa 
righteousness.  "  The  heart  has  its  reasons,  of  which 
reason  knows  nothing.  We  find  this  in  a  thousand 
instances.  It  is  the  heart  which  feels  God,  and  not 
the  reasoning  powers ;  and  this  is  faith  made  per- 
fect ;  God  realized  by  feeling  in  the  heart." 

But  this  view  of  invisible  things  by  faith  is 
more  operative. — The  unseen  heaven  is  constantly 
before  such  a  believer  as  his  home,  and  the  place  of 
his  everlasting  rest.  The  unseen  hell  is  before  him, 
not  as  a  figment  of  the  Christian  school,  nor  a  fright- 
ful invention  of  pagan  mythology,  but  a  reality,  to 
be  escaped  for  his  life,  as  Lot  fled  from  the  fire  and 
brimstone  that  were  bursting  on  Sodom.     The  law 

18 


258  SEEING   THINGS  INVISIBLE. 

of  God  is  before  him ;  it  was  invisible  once,  like  the 
angel  with  his  sword  in  the  path  of  Balaam,  or,  like 
Saul  of  Tarsus,  he  was  alive  without  it;  but  the 
scales  have  fallen  from  his  eyes  also,  and  he  sees  it 
plainly  now.  His  faith  renders  the  truths  of  Reve- 
lation all  palpable  and  real.  As  the  apostle  so  em- 
phatically defines  this  grace,  it  is  the  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  tilings  not  seen. 

Such,  then,  is  the  characteristic  difference  between 
the  two  classes  of  believers  to  which  I  have  referred. 
How  they  are  divided,  or  what  the  ratio  of  real  to 
nominal  or  speculative  believers,  who  but  the 
Searcher  of  hearts  can  tell  ?  But  if  only  they  be- 
long to  the  former  who  evince  their  faith  in  the 
unseen  realities  of  religion  by  their  lives,  the  num- 
ber is  very  small  compared  with  the  multitudes  who 
are  known  as  religious  professors.  Where  is  the 
man  who  lives  as  if  he  felt  the  eye  of  the  invisible 
and  rein-trying  God  to  be  continually  upon  him  ? 
Who  is  he  that  obeys  the  precepts  of  the  law  as  if 
the  omniscient  Author  were  always  present,  to  be- 
stow its  gracious  rewards  or  enforce  its  penalties? 
And  if  you  look  abroad,  from  the  Church  to  the 
world,  how  are  we  impressed  with  the  abounding 
practical  atheism? 

Who  is  the  Almighty,  say  the  multitude  by  their 
conduct,  that  we  should  serve  him,  and  what  profit 
should  we  have  if  ive  pray  unto  him  ?  To  them  he 
is  only  a  Deity  in  theory,  an  article  of  a  creed,  a 
metaphysical  abstraction,  a  God  afar  off,  and  not  at 
hand.  But  how  soon  must  this  epicurean  dreaming 
be  over,  and  the  curtain  fall  which  separates  the 
seen  from  the  invisible  ?     It  may  seem  remote  to 


J.   H.   JONES,   D.    D.  259 

many  of  you  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  fearfully 
near.  A  slip  of  your  foot,  a  mistake  of  your 
apothecary,  a  cold,  a  fever,  an  attack  of  epidemic 
disease,  or  some  arrow  from  the  ten  thousand  which 
fill  the  Almighty's  quiver,  may  lay  some  of  us  low 
even  before  another  week,  and  reveal  the  retribu- 
tions of  eternity.  Happy,  healthful,  and  sanguine 
as  you  now  are,  so  short  a  time  as  this,  may  bring 
you  to  the  bar  of  this  unseen  but  disregarded  and 
dishonoured  God.  Nor  are  these  things  any  more 
distant  and  unreal,  because  so  many  live  as  if  they 
were  at  an  infinite  remove ;  because  they  are  little 
more  heeded  than  if  they  were  the  mere  epic  fictions 
of  a  Virgil  or  Dante,  and  not  the  inspirations  of 
God.  It  was  amazing  effrontery  in  Jehoikim  to 
treat  the  message  of  Jeremiah  with  so  much  con- 
tempt, in  spite  of  the  expostulations  of  Elnathan, 
Delaiah,  and  Gemariah.  But  his  despising  of  the 
prophecy  did  not  rescue  this  infatuated  prince  from 
being  made  a  captive,  put  to  death,  and  having  his 
body  cast  into  a  common  sewer,  like  the  unburied 
carcass  of  an  ass.  His  coolly  taking  the  prophet's 
roll,  cutting  it  with  a  penknife,  and  casting  it  into  the 
fire,  did  not  prevent  its  fulfilment.  And  however 
the  gay  and  the  worldly  may  disregard  the  inspired 
roll  of  warnings,  expostulations,  and  promises  which 
are  addressed  to  them,  the  time  is  coming  when  they 
will  all  be  verified.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
away,  but  His  word  shall  not  pass  away.  The  dis- 
tinction between  a  life  of  Christian  virtue,  and  a  life 
of  sin,  which  so  many  will  not  see  now,  they  will  be 
compelled  to  see  and  acknowledge  when  they  begin 
to  feel  its  results.     And,  in  view  of  such  humiliating 


260  SEEING   THINGS   INVISIBLE. 

facts  in  human  experience  and  conduct,  who,  that 
reflects  and  feels  their  import,  can  doubt  man's  need 
of  supernatural  aid  ?  He  is  not  an  alien  and  a  wan- 
derer from  God,  because  his  true  condition  has  not 
been  revealed  to  him.  He  does  not  reject  the  Sa- 
viour because  he  does  not  hear  him  preached,  and 
even  listen  with  assent  to  the  recital  of  his  advent, 
life,  and  death,  as  the  substitute  and  friend  of  the 
guilty ;  but  with  all  this  persuasion  of  the  mind  and 
conscience,  like  some  spectators  at  the  resurrection 
of  Lazarus,  the  truth  does  not  reach  his  heart.  The 
real  beauty  and  excellency  of  the  Saviour  are  in- 
visible, nor  are  any  teachings  of  the  pulpit  and  pen 
sufficient  to  make  them  known.  There  is  an  obsta- 
cle to  knowledge  here,  which  man  has  neither  the 
desire  nor  the  power  to  remove. 

Imagine  a  garden  of  exquisite  beauty,  and  adorned 
with  every  plant,  fruit  and  flower  that  money  and 
taste  can  collect,  with  fountains  and  rivulets  to  en- 
hance its  varied  attractions.  Suppose  that  you  meet 
a  stranger  here,  who,  with  an  eye  to  all  appearance 
healthful,  passes  along  without  bestowing  the  least 
attention  upon  a  single  object.  In  your  bursts  of 
ecstatic  delight,  as  you  look  at  this  or  that  beautiful 
parterre,  so  blooming  and  fragrant,  he  is  silent,  re- 
turning only  a  vacant  gaze.  Surely,  you  would  say, 
this  stranger  is  blind;  he  cannot  see  as  I  see,  or 
what  I  see ;  and,  upon  inquiry,  you  find  your  con- 
jecture to  be  correct ;  this  man  has  eyes  that  see 
not.  What  you  perceive  and  enjoy  is  invisible  to 
him,  and  something  more  is  needed  than  you  can 
impart  by  your  taste  and  botanical  knowledge  to 
make  him  share  in  your  enjoyment.     The  case  sup- 


J.    H.   JONES,    D.   D.  261 

posed  is  easily  interpreted :  the  natural  man  re- 
ceivetli  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they 
are  foolishness  unto  him ;  neither  can  he  know  them, 
because  they  are  spiritually  discerned.  Some  time 
ago,  a  young  man  of  gay  and  dissipated  habits,  on 
returning  from,  a  meeting  of  kindred  spirits,  at  a  late 
hour  of  the  night,  discovered  on  his  table  a  printed 
sheet,  left  there  he  knew  not  by  whom ;  he  was  a 
despiser  of  tracts,  and  scarcely  less  of  those  who 
distributed  them ;  but,  wearied  and  exhausted,  and 
yet,  unsatisfied  as  he  was  with  the  pleasures  of  the 
evening,  he  was  in  a  mood  for  any  thing  that  would 
occupy  his  thoughts.  This  little  sheet  proved  to  be 
a  messenger  of  God ;  his  mind  had  been  well  in- 
structed in  the  truths  of  religion  before,  but  they 
had  never  reached  his  heart ;  the  night  was  spent 
in  a  state  of  deep  and  overwhelming  conviction,  but 
morning  came  at  length,  and  with  it  the  beams  of 
the  sun  of  righteousness;  he  left  his  chamber,  he 
knew  not  what,  so  changed  were  his  feelings  and 
views  of  every  thing ;  he  looked  upwards,  and  "  the 
heavens  declared  the  glory  of  God."  He  never  saw 
it  there  before ;  he  looked  abroad,  and  every  object, 
and  every  stream,  plant,  flower,  tree,  bird  and  beast, 
reflected  the  same.  The  Bible  was  new  and  full  of 
God,  especially  as  manifested  in  Christ. 

When  God  revealed  his  gracious  name, 

And  changed  his  mournful  state, 
The  rapture  seemed  a  pleasing  dream, 

The  grace  appeared  so  great. 

The  whole  creation  was  teeming  with  beauties, 
thrown  over  them  by  the  hand  of  God,  and,  though 
hidden  before,  they  were  visible  now.     And  can  you 


262  SEEING   THINGS   INVISIBLE. 

tell  me,  reader,  why?  The  heavens  were  not 
changed,  nor  the  earth,  nor  the  objects  that  cover 
it ;  these  were  all  the  same,  but  the  change  was  in 
himself.  And  does  any  one  inquire  in  what  re- 
spect? How  were  his  eyes  opened  ?  He  was  a  tro- 
jDhy  of  the  Spirit ;  the  man  was  born  again ;  old 
things  had  passed  away,  and  all  things  had  become 
new.  Are  there  not  some  among  the  readers  of  his 
story  who  need  the  same  change  ?  Do  you  know 
that  this  life  giving  Spirit  is  promised  to  all  who 
seek  his  influences  ?  And  what  is  so  ineffably  im- 
portant as  that  you  should  know  or  practically  feel 
the  teaching  of  the  Saviour  to  the  Jewish  ruler, 
except  a  man  be  bom  again  lie  cannot  see  the  Idncjdom 
of  God. 


CHRIST,  THE  LIFE  OF  HIS  PEOPLE. 


A   DIS  COURSE 


TO    ILLUSTRATE     THE     NATURE    OP    THE     DIVINE     LIFE  ;     AND    ITS    DEVELOP- 
MENT   IN    OUR    SPIRITUAL,    OUR   MORTAL,    AND    OUR   ETERNAL    BEING. 


BY 

ROBERT  J.  BRECKINRIDGE,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D. 

TASTOR    OF   THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    LEXINGTON,    KY.,  AND    SUPERIN- 
TENDENT  OF    PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION   FOR  THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF   KENTUCKY. 


Christ,  who  is  our  life. — Col.  iii.  4. 

The  grand  point  of  view  in  which  we  should 
habitually  contemplate  the  Scriptures,  is  as  a  divine 
revelation  of  the  only  mode  in  which  lost  sinners 
can  be  saved.  As  a  history  of  much  that  has  hap- 
pened in  this  world  of  ours,  the  enduring  importance 
of  its  statements  results  from  their  setting  before  us 
the  method  in  which  this  salvation  is  brought  to 
light,  and  applied  practically  to  men.  As  a  spiritual 
system,  unfolding  and  enforcing  a  most  peculiar 
view  of  the  unseen  world,  and  our  relations  to  it,  its 
living  power  is  derived  from  the  bearing  of  its  doc- 
trines upon  our  eternal  destiny,  as  depraved  crea- 
tures to  whom  divine  mercy  is  offered  in  a  particular 
way.  As  a  code  of  morals  suited  to  direct  the  con- 
science, and  to  regulate  the  life  of  such  beings  as  we 

(263) 


264  CHRIST    THE   LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

are,  it  is  the  connection  of  its  precepts  with  the  doc- 
trines which  constitute  its  spiritual  system,  and  the 
dependence  of  both  upon  its  great  proposal  of  salva- 
tion for  sinners,  which  invests  its  rules  of  duty  with 
so  much  majesty,  and  gives  such  sublime  force  to  the 
idea  of  duty  itself.  As  a  source  of  support,  of  con- 
solation, of  peace,  and  of  joy,  in  such  a  world  as 
this,  and  in  such  a  course  as  our  pilgrimage  through 
it  must  needs  be,  it  can  avail  us  nothing,  except  as 
we  receive  its  precepts,  and  accept  its  doctrines,  and 
believe  its  statements,  as  one  and  the  other  bear 
directly  upon  the  grand  conception  of  the  Gospel — 
salvation  for  lost  sinners.  Every  thing  short  of  this 
is  little  better  than  trifling  with  our  own  souls. 
Every  thing  inconsistent  with  this  is  little  else  than 
handling  the  word  of  God  deceitfully. 

Whatever  men  may  imagine  concerning  other 
portions  of  the  contents  of  God's  Word,  it  is  past  all 
doubt  that  the  portion  which  relates  to  the  person, 
the  work,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  must  be 
invested  with  divine  power,  or  must  be  absolutely 
useless  in  the  matter  of  our  salvation.  That  part 
of  the  Scriptures  is  a  glorious  revelation,  or  it  is  a 
most  empty  imposture.  Let  us  proudly  conceive 
what  may  suit  our  vain  and  foolish  hearts,  about  the 
history,  the  morality,  nay,  even  the  religion  of  the 
Bible,  using  the  word  religion  in  its  largest  sense, 
and  persuade  ourselves,  if  we  will,  that  all  these 
things  are  level  to  our  unaided  faculties,  and  that  no 
divine  wisdom,  nor  any  divine  power,  is  manifested 
in  them.  The  moment  we  come  upon  the  concep- 
tion of  the  Son  of  God  incarnate  to  save  sinners, 
and  begin  to  expatiate  amidst  any  of  the  multiplied 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,   D.    D.  265 

and  overwhelming  exhibitions  which  are  made, 
throughout  the  Scriptures,  of  this  vast  conception, 
we  find  ourselves  carried  at  once,  into  a  region 
where,  at  every  step,  we  must  recognise  the  guid- 
ance and  the  presence  of  God,  or  we  must  nerve 
ourselves  before  the  most  daring  of  all  human  im- 
postures, invested  with  more  than  all  human  force 
and  grace,  and  all  available  to  no  end.  There  is  not 
one  solitary  point  connected  with  the  person,  the 
work,  or  the  glory  of  Jesus  Christ — nothing  that 
touches  his  humiliation  or  exaltation — that  is  in- 
volved in  his  prophetic,  his  priestly,  or  his  kingly 
office — that  concerns  his  incarnation,  his  sacrifice, 
or  his  resurrection — that  fits  him  to  be  the  Re- 
deemer of  God's  elect,  or  exhibits  his  work  of 
redemption — that  relates  to  his  eternal  being  or  his 
eternal  reign ;  there  is  absolutely  nothing,  in  the 
presence  of  which  human  nature  can  stand  and  say, 
I  know  this  to  be  true,  or,  I  know  this  to  be  effectual 
in  the  manner,  and  for  the  end  proposed !  God 
must  utter  it,  God  must  propound  it,  or  it  must  be 
uttered  and  propounded  alike  in  mockery  of  God 
and  man — an  audacious  braving  of  the  majesty  of 
heaven — a  ferocious  trifling  with  the  sorrows  and  the 
hopes  of  earth — a  fiendish  aggravation  of  the  woes 
of  hell ! 

The  alternative  we  take  is  the  one  which  gives  us 
peace  and  reconciles  us  to  God.  They  who  like  can 
take  the  other,  and  reap  its  fruits.  Taking  that 
alternative,  we  must  bear  in  mind  its  fundamental 
condition  as  a  question  to  be  settled  at  the  bar  of 
human  reason,  namely,  that  this  whole  doctrine  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  salvation  offered  to  us  through 


266  CHRIST   THE   LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

him,  is  a  matter  of  pure  and  absolute  revelation.  It 
is  God  who  has  spoken,  it  is  God  who  propounds  it 
to  us ;  we  accept,  in  its  simplicity  and  its  fulness, 
every  word  which  has  proceeded  out  of  the  mouth 
of  God ;  and  we  attest  our  sincerity  herein  by  sitting 
down  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  to  learn  of  him,  and  by 
resting  our  souls  upon  him.  We  must  remember, 
also,  the  second  great  condition,  which  in  the  very 
nature  of  the  case  controls  the  whole  question, 
namely,  that  all  these  utterances  of  God,  all  that  he 
propounds  concerning  his  only  begotten  Son,  are 
matters  connected,  more  or  less,  directly  with  the 
salvation  of  lost  sinners,  and  that  herein  lies  the  sum 
total  of  our  interest  in  it  all.  Thus  full  of  the  sense 
of  God's  presence  in  his  Word;  thus  alive  to  the 
awful  interest  with  which  that  Word  is  invested  for 
us — there  is  no  part  of  it  in  which  we  may  not  find 
some  manifestation  of  that  infinite  grace  in  which 
all  of  it  is  conceived,  and  we  shall  see,  with  joyful 
surprise,  how  directly  and  how  continually  this 
recovery  of  our  souls  is  its  burden  and  its  theme. 
Amongst  ten  thousand  other  passages,  my  text  is  all 
alive  with  this  precious  Saviour,  and  this  great  sal- 
vation. To  him  as  our  life,  and  to  the  nature  of  the 
life  we  enjoy  in  him,  in  our  spiritual,  our  mortal,  and 
our  eternal  being,  the  apostle,  in  this  passage,  directs 
our  thoughts.  Such  is,  therefore,  the  subject  of  our 
present  meditations. 

Amongst  the  things  expressly  revealed  to  us,  con- 
cerning the  origin  and  destiny  of  our  race,  are  these 
which  follow,  namely,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  only  and  the  absolute  Creator  of  the  entire 
physical  universe,  and  every  part  of  it ;  that  he  is 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D. 


267 


the  author  of  all  that  we  call  life,  the  bestower  of 
every  thing  that  we  understand  by  conscious  exist- 
ence, throughout  the  universe ;  and  that  every 
form,  and  every  grade  of  what  we  mean  by  intelli- 
gence, from  the  lowest  manifestation  of  it,  in  any 
living  thing,  up  to  its  most  exalted  exhibition  in  his 
presence  around  God's  throne,  is  an  emanation  and 
a  gift  from  him.  (John  i.  1 — 14.)  By  the  entrance 
of  sin,  first  into  heaven,  and  then  upon  the  earth, 
this  universal  frame  of  nature  has  fallen  under 
God's  curse ;  and  every  creature  that  possesses  con- 
scious existence,  and  every  being  endowed  with 
intelligence — each  in  proportion  to  its  own  degree, 
and  its  own  connection  and  dependence  with  fallen 
angels  and  fallen  men — has  lost  its  primeval  estate, 
and  fallen  under  the  divine  wrath.  (Gen.  iii.  14 — 19  ; 
Rom.  v.  12—21,  and  viii.  20—23;  Jude  6.) 

The  wages  of  sin  is  death,  (Rom.  vi.  23.)  This  is 
the  comprehensive,  the  unalterable  necessity  which 
pervades  the  universe,  and  which  God  has  an- 
nounced to  us  as  the  simple  and  universal  result  of 
the  administration  of  divine  justice  against  sinners. 
They  who  sin  must  die  ;  transgression  leads  directly 
to  death  ;  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  without  any 
exception,  and  by  the  eternal  ordination  of  God, 
when  lust  hath  conceived  it  bringeth  forth  sin,  and 
sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bringeth  forth  death,  (James 
i.  15.)  This  terrible  and  universal  penalty  of  sin 
is  set  before  us  in  the  Scriptures  in  a  threefold  light. 

1.  In  a  point  of  view  purely  moral;  namely,  the  se- 
paration of  our  whole  man,  in  this  life,  from  the 
likeness  and  favour  of  God — which  is  spiritual  death. 

2.  In  a  point  of  view  purely  physical ;  namely,  the 


268  CHRIST   THE   LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

separation  of  our  souls  and  bodies  from  each  other — 
which  is  temporal  death.  3.  In  a  point  of  view  re- 
sulting from  a  certain  combination  of  both  the  pre- 
ceding ;  namely,  the  ruin  of  our  souls  and  bodies  in 
hell  for  ever — which  is  the  second  death.  (Ephe- 
sians  ii.  1 — 3 ;  Ecclesiastes  xii.  7 ;  Matt.  xxv.  41 ; 
Rev.  xx.  14.)  To  each  one  of  these  conditions,  as 
fully  comprehended  in  the  penalty  of  death  de- 
nounced against  sin,  every  sinner  of  the  human  race 
is  exposed.  He  is  liable  to  have  the  sentence  of 
death  executed  upon  him,  in  every  one  of  these  as- 
pects, in  exact  proportion,  as  to  the  measure  of  its 
relative  severity,  as  comparing  the  case  of  one  sin- 
ner with  another,  to  the  demerit  of  his  offences. 
As  a  sinner,  he  already  lies  under  the  condemnation, 
and  only  awaits  the  full  execution  of  the  entire  sen- 
tence, because  God  does  not  desire  him  to  j)erish, 
but  would  rather  he  should  turn  and  live.  Under 
each  aspect  of  the  penalty  denounced  against  him 
for  his  sins,  is  involved  all  the  sorrows  and  all  the 
anguish  which  the  very  vilest  can  ever  incur  or  en- 
dure ;  and  he  may  so  run  to  the  most  terrible  excess 
of  riot,  that  the  depth  of  his  pollution  and  spiritual 
death,  the  anguish  and  degradation  of  his  physical 
existence,  and  the  temporal  death  which  will  close 
it,  and  the  eternal  agonies  of  his  soul  and  body  in 
hell,  when  the  second  death  shall  swallow  him  up 
for  ever — may  make  any  sinner,  who  now  least  ex- 
pects it,  a  monument  of  eternal  horror.  As  sinners, 
we  are  actually,  to  every  moral  intent,  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  in  sins ;  as  sinners,  we  are  actually  dying 
daily,  as  to  every  physical  intent ;  as  sinners,  we 
have  not  yet  incurred  the  irreversible  sentence  of 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,   D.    B.  269 

the  second  death,  simply  because  our  souls  and  our 
bodies  are  not  yet  separated  by  the  stroke  of  tem- 
poral death.  To  add  to  all  the  terrors  of  such  a 
condition,  it  is  absolutely,  remediless  by  all  human 
means ;  nay,  even  according  to  any  human  concep- 
tion ;  and  the  interposition  of  God  himself  is  liable 
to  conditions  resulting  from  his  own  glorious  being, 
and  from  the  very  nature  of  his  relations  to  his 
fallen  creatures,  which  appal  human  reason,  and 
crush  the  wildest  human  hopes.  We  have  not  only 
incurred  this  death — we  have  not  only  deserved  it — 
but  our  destiny  is  cast  under  a  divine  administra- 
tion, in  which  there  is  an  absolute  necessity  for  that 
which  is  deserved  to  be  done ;  an  unalterable  deter- 
mination to  inflict  that  which  is  incurred. 

Thus  are  we  undone ;  thus  are  we  sold  under  sin ; 
thus  are  we  shut  up  under  the  law.  All  behind  us 
is  shame ;  all  within  us  and  around  us  is  darkness ; 
all  before  us  is  terror.  And  now  it  is,  through  all 
this  gloom,  and  above  all  this  despair,  that  heavenly 
accents  fall  upon  our  trembling  hearts :  "  Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest!"  And  then  the  majestic  utter- 
ance, before  which  hell  and  the  grave  tremble,  bursts 
over  our  troubled  souls :  "  He  that  believeth  in  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live ;  and  whoso- 
ever liveth  and  believeth  in  me,  shall  never  die !" 
And  then  the  sublime  and  consoling  appeal,  at  once 
to  our  reason  and  our  faith :  "  The  first  man,  Adam, 
was  made  a  living  soul ;  he  was  of  the  earth,  earthy; 
as  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy: 
and  ye  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy.  But  the 
last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  spirit ;  he  is  the 


270  CHRIST   THE   LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

Lord  from  heaven;  as  is  the  heavenly,  such  are 
they  also  that  are  heavenly ;  and  ye  shall  also  bear 
the  image  of  the  heavenly."  (Matt.  xi.  28 ;  John 
xi.  25,  26 ;  1  Cor.  xv.  45—9).  "Behold  the  new  and 
living  way  !  He  who  knew  no  sin  hath  been  made 
sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness 
of  God  in  him.  Jesus  Christ  hath  abolished  death, 
and  hath  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light 
through  the  gospel."    (2  Cor.  v.  21 ;  2  Tim.  i.  10.) 

Now,  then,  standing  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
plan  of  salvation,  we  are  prepared,  as  we  look  in  all 
directions  through  the  unsearchable  riches  of  God's 
grace,  to  appreciate  with  clearness  the  sense  in 
which  Christ  is  our  life.  And  knowing  that  all  that 
was  lost  through  the  first  Adam  is  more  than  reco- 
vered through  the  last,  and  that  where  sin  hath 
abounded  and  reigned  unto  death,  grace  shall  much 
more  abound  and  reign  through  righteousness  unto 
eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  we  may, 
with  a  firm  hand,  take  up  and  unravel  the  thread  of 
our  sad  destiny  as  sinners ;  and,  as  we  retrace  the 
points  of  our  condemnation  unto  death,  develope 
that  life  of  our  souls,  of  our  bodies,  and  of  both 
united  to  all  eternity,  which,  though  we  be  dead,  is 
hid  with  Christ  in  God. 

And,  'First,  of  Christ,  as  the  life  of  our  souls. — If 
you  would  either  see  or  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God — if  you  would  comprehend  or  possess  the  divine 
life — you  must  be  born  again.  This  is  the  simplest, 
the  most  elemental  principle  of  spiritual  religion. 
Do  not  marvel  at  it,  said  Christ  to  Nicodemus,  for  it 
is  the  first  and  the  clearest  part  of  all  that  portion 
of  the  mystery  of  Christ  which  is  developed  in  this 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,   D.    D.  271 

world ;  and  the  comprehension  and  reception  of  this 
earthly  part  lie  at  the  foundation  of  our  ability  to 
comprehend  and  to  possess  all  its  heavenly  parts. 
Do  you  not  perceive  ?  You  are  dead  in  sin :  but 
God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begot- 
ten Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  As  Moses  lifted 
up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  that  all  who  looked 
upon  it  might  live,  so  is  the  Son  of  Man  lifted  up,  a 
sacrifice  for  sin,  that  a  divine  Saviour,  crucified  for 
us,  might  become  the  specific  object  of  that  saving 
faith  by  which,  being  united  to  him,  we  obtain  eter- 
nal life.  For,  by  our  union  with  him,  he  bears  our 
sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  and  offers  up  to 
divine  justice  a  full  satisfaction  for  them  all.  Now, 
then,  can  God  be  just  and  justify  those  who  believe 
in  Jesus  Christ.  But  still  further — this  offering  up 
by  Christ  of  himself  for  the  redemption  of  his  people 
hath  wrought  far  deeper  than  any  outward  work, 
even  for  the  pardon  of  sin.  That  which  is  spirit 
can  be  born  only  of  the  Spirit;  and  your  spirit  is 
dead,  in  the  only  sense  in  which  a  spirit  can  die ;  it 
is  corrupt,  depraved,  alienated  from  God.  The  life 
inherited  from  the  living  soul,  Adam,  is  utterly  for- 
feited and  polluted,  and  is  incapable  of  being  healed 
again  any  more  for  ever — infinitely  incapable  of  re- 
creating itself.  But  there  is  a  power  adequate  to 
this  new  creation ;  and  there  is,  as  has  been  already 
shown,  a  ground  and  a  cause  adequate  to  justify  it. 
The  eternal  love  of  God  is  cause  enough,  and  the 
infinite  sacrifice  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  is  ground 
enough;  and  it  is  plain  enough,  that  if  we  could 
live  at  all  by  reason  of  our  connection  with  that  first 


272  CHRIST    THE    LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

Adam,  who  was  only  a  living  soul,  we  may  also  live 
a  new  and  better  life  by  reason  of  our  connection 
with  the  last  Adam,  who  is  a  life  giving  spirit.  A 
spiritual  power,  sent  down  from  heaven,  is  therefore 
expressly  declared  by  Christ  to  be  the  efficient 
agency  in  our  new  creation;  and  this  is  true,  without 
exception,  concerning  every  one  that  is  born  again. 
Because  God  has  loved  us  with  an  unchangeable 
love,  Christ  has  redeemed  us  with  his  most  precious 
blood;  and  the  divine  Spirit  of  life  covenanted  in 
that  blood,  and  purchased  by  it,  sets  us  free  from 
the  power  of  sin  and  death,  opens  our  eyes,  and  turns 
us  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God,  that  we  may  receive  forgiveness  of 
sins  and  inheritance  amongst  them  which  are  sanc- 
tified by  faith  that  is  in  Christ.  As  the  wind  blow- 
eth  where  it  listeth,  so  this  free  Spirit,  sovereign  as 
it  is  divine,  cometh  and  goeth,  not  by  mortal  con- 
trol ;  but  so  cometh  and  goeth  as  for  ever  to  justify 
and  honour  Christ ;  for  ever  to  condemn  the  world 
for  its  darkness  and  its  evil  deeds ;  for  ever  to  com- 
fort and  bless  all  the  children  of  the  light  and  the 
truth;  for  ever  to  manifest  his  special  presence 
while  he  abides,  and  leave  ineffaceable  proofs  of  his 
work  when  it  is  done.      (John  hi.  1 — 21.) 

Verily — verily — is  the  reiterated  assurance  of 
Christ ;  marvel  not — marvel  not — his  earnest  com- 
mand. Why  should  we  doubt — why  distrust  God  ? 
This  doctrine  of  a  spiritual  and  supernatural  regen- 
eration is  not  only  distinctly  and  continually  asserted 
throughout  the  Scriptures,  as  the  very  foundation  of 
the  life  of  God  in  our  souls,  but  it  underlies  every 
portion  of  God's  dealings  with  the  human  race,  both 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  273 

in  time  and  eternity,  as  those  dealings  are  explained 
to  us  in  liis  holy  Word.  When  we  speak  of  the  fall 
of  man,  we  utter  we  know  not  what,  unless  we  in- 
tend to  signify  that  man  has  lost  the  image  of  God 
and  needs  to  be  restored  to  it.  When  we  dilate  on 
the  whole  work  of  Christ,  in  his  estate  of  humilia- 
tion, we  rob  that  tremendous  dispensation  of  all  its 
significance  the  moment  we  lose  sight  of  the  condi- 
tion of  man,  as  helpless  and  depraved,  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  divine  intervention  to  save  him  from 
perdition.  When  we  speak  of  the  entire  work  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  we  utter  sheer  nonsense,  unless  we 
mean  that  man  needs,  and  that  God  has  provided,  in 
the  agency  of  that  Spirit,  the  effectual  means  of  his 
moral  renovation.  When  we  think  of  God  as  the 
moral  ruler  and  final  judge  of  a  race  of  sinners,  we 
have  no  alternative  but  to  admit  the  universal  de- 
struction of  the  whole  race,  or  to  admit  the  existence 
of  some  divine  and  efficacious  mode  of  restoring  a 
sinful  soul  to  God.  When  we  contemplate  our  race 
as  rational  creatures,  having  any  souls  at  all,  no 
matter  how  sinful  those  souls  may  be,  it  is  the 
merest  absurdity  to  speak  of  any  regeneration  for 
them  that  is  not  purely  spiritual;  and  when  we 
survey  them  as  helpless  creatures,  morally  helpless 
through  their  depravity,  though  still  spiritual  crea- 
tures, every  thing  short  of  supernatural  aid  is  a 
mere  trifling  with  their  despair.  Every  part  of  the 
plan  of  salvation  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  involves 
the  idea  of  a  supernatural  and  spiritual  regeneration 
of  the  soul  of  man  ;  and  every  fact  upon  which  that 
glorious  plan  rests,  and  every  issue  to  which  it 
points,  is  contradicted  and  rendered   nugatory  the 

19 


274  CHRIST    THE    LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

moment  we  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  its  divine  fulness.  And  then,  to  crown  all,  and 
as  if  to  set  in  the  most  awful  light  God's  estimate 
of  the  necessity  under  which  we  lie,  to  perish  if  we 
are  not  born  again,  and  of  the  clearness  with  which 
that  necessity  is  revealed  to  men,  he  forewarns  us 
that  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is  one  for  whose 
pardon  we  need  not  pray,  for  it  will  never  be  for- 
given! Yet,  beyond  all  doubt,  a  low  appreciation 
of  the  work  of  God's  Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  the  chil- 
dren of  men  lies  at  the  root  of  most  of  the  heresies 
that  now  dishonour  and  deface  the  nominal  Church 
of  God,  and  is  the  cause  of  most  of  the  deadness  and 
unfruitfulness  of  the  true  followers  of  Christ.  Be- 
lief in  the  efficacy  of  forms  and  ceremonies,  confi- 
dence in  the  power  of  rites  and  ordinances,  bigotted 
advocacy  of  errors  and  delusions,  daring  rejection 
of  saving  truths,  growing  indifference  to  instructive 
and  pungent  ministrations,  aversion  to  strictness  in 
doctrine  and  in  life,  mournful  departures  from 
simplicity  and  spirituality,  shallow  interpretations 
of  God's  word,  increase  of  ostentation  and  laxity  in 
all  religious  things,  and  wide  spread  restlessness, 
commotion,  and  love  of  carnal  excitement  in  spiritual 
matters ;  all  these,  and  how  many  other  sorrowful 
proofs  rise  upon  every  side,  to  attest  that  the  work 
of  the  Spirit  is  not  cherished  amongst  men,  and  that 
Christ  is  not  the  life  of  their  souls  in  that  exalted 
sense  which  the  Scriptures  inculcate,  and  which 
other  times  have  witnessed.  It  is  the  Spirit  that 
quickeneth,  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing.  (John  vi. 
43—65.) 

Still,  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  remains  the  fun- 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.   D.  275 

damental  necessity  of  every  renewed  heart,  as  it  is 
the  first  and  simplest  element  of  practical  Christi- 
anity ;  and  in  connection  with  the  aspect  of  it  pre- 
sented in  my  text,  there  are  several  things  fur- 
ther which  ought  to  be  briefly  suggested,  before  I 
pass  from  this  topic.  You  will  note,  in  the  first 
place,  the  peculiar  turn  of  the  apostle's  thought. 
He  does  not  content  himself  with  saying,  that  we 
have  a  life  derived  from  Christ,  nor  yet  that  Christ 
has  bestowed  on  us  a  life  essentially  like  his  own ; 
but  he  mounts  to  the  loftiest  height,  and  declares 
that  Christ  is  himself  our  life !  Christ  is  found  in 
his  people,  the  hope  of  glory.  In  receiving,  accept- 
ing, and  relying  upon  him,  there  is  a  lofty  and  hal- 
lowed sense  in  which  they  are  nourished  by  him.  I 
am,  said  he,  the  bread  of  life  !  (John  vi.  48.)  Be- 
side all  that  Christ  has  uttered — and  he  spake  as 
never  man  spake  ;  beside  all  that  he  hath  done  for 
us — and  he  hath  done  more  than  it  has  entered  into 
our  hearts  to  conceive  ;  there  is  Christ  himself,  the 
friend,  the  teacher,  the  master,  the  Saviour,  the 
very  life  of  our  souls  !  Again  :  you  are  to  remem- 
ber that  this  abolishing  of  our  spiritual  death  by 
Christ,  and  this  regeneration  of  our  souls  by  his 
Spirit,  is  the  condition  not  only  of  all  other  and 
further  mercies  to  be  received  through  him,  but,  in 
part,  constitutes  our  very  capacity  to  enjoy  any  of 
them  aright,  and  the  chief  of  them  at  all.  The 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be. 
Without  form  and  without  comeliness ;  or  the  chief- 
est  amongst  ten  thousand,  and  altogether  lovely; 
one  or  other  of  these  two  is  the  only  view  we  can 


276  CHRIST    THE   LIFE   OF    HIS    PEOPLE. 

take  of  him.  One  is  the  view  of  a  dead  soul,  hast- 
ening to  perdition,  and  fit  only  for  it.  The  other 
is  the  view  of  a  living  soul,  renewed  in  the  image 
of  the  invisible  God,  and  meet  to  .partake  of  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  Once  more  :  you 
will  hear  in  mind  that  the  Lord  has  said,  this  spi- 
ritual regeneration  is  an  earthly,  in  contradistinction 
to  a  heavenly,  thing.  It  must  occur,  if  it  occurs  at 
all,  while  you  are  in  the  flesh.  The  life  of  Jesus, 
if  it  is  ever  manifested  in  us,  "  must  be  made  mani- 
fest in  our  body" — "  in  our  mortal  flesh."  (2  Cor.  iv. 
10,  11.)  Temporal  death  puts  an  end  for  ever,  to 
every  hope  of  impenitent  men.  From  the  instant 
that  the  soul  and  the  body  are  separated,  the  expec- 
tation of  the  wicked  shall  perish.  Whatsoever  thy 
hand  findeth  to  do,  do  with  thy  might ;  for  there  is 
no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in 
the  grave,  whither  thou  goest.  (Eccl.  ix.  10.)  Still 
further :  you  may  rejoice  in  the  divine  assurance, 
that  the  gift  of  this  new  and  imperishable  life  in 
Jesus  Christ,  draws  after  it  every  other  blessing,  and 
every  other  benefit  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  in  so 
far  as  is  needful  to  bring  you  off  more  than  con- 
querors, through  him  that  loved  us.  Many  toils — 
many  tears — fightings  without — fears  within — trou- 
bles on  every  hand — fierce  temptations — fearful 
backslidings — the  malice  of  hell — the  plagues  of 
your  heart !  It  is  no  light  thing  to  make  such  sin- 
ners angels  of  light.  Nevertheless  it  can  be  done. 
It  has  been  done.  It  will  be  done  again.  If  when 
we  were  enemies  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the 
death  of  his  Son,  much  more  being  reconciled  we 
shall  be  saved  by  his  life  !    For  I  am  persuaded  that 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  277 

neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities, 
nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come, 
nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall 
be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.  (Rom.  v.  10,  and  viii. 
38,  39.)  And  finally :  you  may  take  continual 
comfort,  and  make  continual  progress  in  that  new 
life  into  which  you  have  been  begotten  by  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  more  and  more  of  the  knowledge  of  God ; 
a  conformity  unto  him,  greater  and  greater ;  an  in- 
sight into  his  word,  and  into  divine  things,  deeper 
and  deeper ;  a  love  of  Christ  more  and  more  fervent ; 
a  more  rooted  abhorrence  of  all  sin ;  increasing  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost ;  compassion  for  sinners,  tenderer 
every  day ;  hardness  borne  as  becomes  a  good  soldier 
of  the  cross ;  the  good  fight  of  faith  manfully  waged; 
the  cross  borne  aloft  through  our  pilgrimage ;  Christ, 
and  him  crucified,  more  and  more  the  life  of  our 
souls !  For  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the 
whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named,  doth 
grant,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  glory,  that  you 
may  be  strengthened  with  might  by  his  Spirit  in  the 
inner  man ;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts 
by  faith ;  that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in 
love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend,  with  all  saints, 
what  is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and 
height,  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ,  which  pass- 
eth  knowledge,  that  ye  may  be  filled  with  all  the  ful- 
ness of  God.  Therefore,  unto  him  that  is  able  to  do 
exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think, 
according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  him 
be  glory  in  the  Church,  by  Christ  Jesus,  throughout 
all   ages,  world  without  end.     (Eph.  iii.  10 — 21.) 


278  CHRIST    THE    LIFE   OF    HIS    PEOPLE. 

Secondly — Of  Christ  as  the  life  of  our  mortal  na- 
ture. I  remind  you  that  the  whole  doctrine  of 
Christ  is  matter  of  pure  revelation.  It  is  only  from 
God  himself  that  we  can  know  what  Christ  is,  and 
what  Christ  does.  All  this  is  not  less  true  concern- 
ing every  portion  of  Christ's  work  in  us,  and  every 
part  of  our  relations  to  him,  than  concerning  the  es- 
sential truths  which  relate  to  his  own  being,  and  to 
his  relations  to  the  Godhead,  and  to  the  whole  uni- 
verse, of  which  he  is  the  central  object. 

Temporal  death,  as  we  call  the  separation  of  the 
human  soul  and  body,  is  to  the  human  race  the  di- 
rect result  of  the  entrance  of  sin  into  the  world. 
God  not  only  forewarned  Adam  of  a  fact  infinitely 
certain,  in  the  nature  of  that  dependence  in  which 
the  whole  creation  stood,  but  denounced  to  him  the 
ordained  penalty  of  transgression,  when  he  told  him 
that  in  the  day  he  should  eat  of  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  "dying  he  should  die." 
From  that  moment  he  and  all  his  race  should  endure 
the  power,  and  incur  the  judgment  of  death  in  their 
bodies,  as  well  as  jDollution  in  their  souls ;  and  start- 
ing from  that  point  of  deliberate  rejection  of  God, 
dying  they  should  die,  man  after  man,  and  genera- 
tion after  generation,  as  long  as  the  curse  of  a  vio- 
lated covenant,  and  the  penalty  of  a  broken  law, 
worked  together  with  the  power  of  sin  in  the  ruins 
of  their  fallen  nature.  And  then,  after  the  work  of 
ruin  was  begun,  and  to  .prevent  the  immortal  con- 
tinuance of  death  itself  upon  the  earth,  "  lest  he  put 
forth  his  hand  and  take  also  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  eat, 
and  live  for  ever,"  the  Lord  God  drove  out  the  man 
from  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  placed  a  cherubim  and  a 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  279 

flaming  sword  to  keep  the  way  of  the  tree  of  life. 
(Gen.  ii.  17,  and  iii.  22 — 24.)  Expounding  and  en- 
forcing these  solemn  truths,  prophets  and  apostles 
have  argued  the  whole  matter  with  unusual  fulness, 
and  made  it  clear  above  most  of  the  wonders  of  our 
being.  By  one  man,  even  Adam,  sin  entered  into 
the  world,  and  death  by  sin ;  and  so  death  passed 
upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned.  That  offence 
was  an  act  of  deliberate  disobedience ;  and  that  death 
which  followed  it,  was  not  only  a  condemnation,  but 
a  judgment.  And  if  we  shall  say  that  death  reigned 
from  Adam  to  Moses,  that  is,  before  the  giving  of  the 
law,  and  that  sin  is  not  imputed  when  there  is  no 
law,  and,  therefore,  death  cannot  be  either  the  fruit 
or  the  penalty  of  sin;  the  divine 'answer  is,  that  we 
have  just  perverted  the  facts  and  drawn  an  inference 
that  is  precisely  opposite  to  the  one  which  those  facts 
imply.  For  as  death  is  both  the  fruit  and  the  pen- 
alty of  sin,  God  being  the  judge,  the  reign  of  death, 
before  the  law  was  given,  proves  that  there  is  a  law 
deeper  than  that  given  by  Moses,  even  that  cove- 
nant of  works,  under  whose  curse  we  lie,  and  that 
law  of  our  very  being,  created  in  the  image  of  God, 
and  that  law  of  eternal  order,  and  fitness,  and  truth, 
which  is  involved  in  the  very  being  of  God,  and  to 
which  he  has  made  the  human  conscience  respon- 
sive ;  and  that  the  violation  of  each  one  of  these 
primeval  laws  is,  in  a  proper  sense,  sin,  and  is  im- 
puted. Again,  if  we  answer  further,  that  death 
reigned,  even  from  the  beginning,  over  those  who 
never  sinned  after  the  similitude  of  Adam's  trans- 
gression ;  that  is,  over  those  who  never  wilfully  trans- 
gressed the  known  law  of  God,  and,  therefore,  this 


280  CHRIST   THE   LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

plainly  shows  that  death  is  neither  the  fruit  nor  the 
penalty  of  sin,  the  divine  response  is,  that  herein 
we  abuse  ourselves  by  a  false  idea  of  sin,  as  before 
by  a  false  idea  of  law;  for  the  fundamental  truth 
being,  that  death  is  the  result  of  sin,  simply,  abso- 
lutely and  universally,  in  the  absence  of  known  law 
and  deliberate  transgression,  death  proves  the  ex- 
istence of  that  which  is  properly  sin,  and  which  God 
will  impute ;  namely,  sin  in  our  very  being,  original 
and  congenital  with  us,  derived  from  the  first  parent 
of  our  race,  as  its  natural  and  its  covenanted  head, 
in  whom  we  fell.  And  again,  if  we  now  turn  to  at- 
tack the  very  nature  of  such  an  order  of  things,  and 
urge  that  it  cannot  be  after  this  fashion,  because  it 
involves  that  the  sin  of  Adam  should  be  imputed  to 
his  race ;  that  through  the  offence  of  one  man  judg- 
ment should  come  upon  all  men  to  condemnation ; 
that  for  one  offence  so  terrible  and  universal  ruin 
should  occur;  and  that  by  the  fall  and  death  of  one 
man  death  should  pass  upon  all  men ;  the  divine  an- 
swer is,  that  as  before  we  deceived  ourselves  as  to 
the  nature  of  sin,  and  the  nature  of  law,  so  here  we 
delude  ourselves  about  the  nature  of  God's  relations 
to  his  creatures,  and  attack  the  very  foundations  of  di- 
vine grace.  For  the  righteousness  of  Christ  must  be 
imputed  to  his  people ;  the  obedience  and  sacrifice  of 
Christ  must  lie  at  the  foundation  of  that  free  gift  which 
came  upon  all  men  to  justification  of  life  ;  and  by  one 
man,  even  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  one  sacrifice  of  him- 
self, grace  must  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eter- 
nal life ;  or  else,  where  sin  has  abounded  it  must  con- 
tinue to  abound  for  ever,  and  where  death  has  reigned 
it  must  continue  to  reign  eternally.  Rom.  v.  12 — 21. 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  281 

Taking  their  start  from  this  point,  the  Scriptures 
develope  the  whole  dispensation  of  man.  For 
awhile  he  abides  here  on  earth,  his  ordinary  condi- 
tion being  that  of  an  immortal. but  sinful  soul  united 
to  a  mortal  and  sinful  body,  and  his  best  estate  that 
of  a  partially  sanctified  soul  united  to  that  mortal 
and  sinful  body.  His  soul  may  be  regenerated,  and 
to  a  certain  degree  sanctified,  while  in  union  with 
the  body  ;  and  this  change,  as  has  been  shown,  must 
occur  during  that  union  here  below,  or  never  occur 
at  all.  By  and  by  he  dies.  His  soul  and  his  body 
are  separated ;  the  latter  returning  to  the  dust,  as  it 
was — the  former  to  God  who  gave  it.  In  their 
separated  state,  regenerated  souls  pass  at  death  into 
the  presence  and  fruition  of  God;  and  impenitent 
souls  pass  to  a  place  of  torment.  Of  the  whole 
human  race  two  men  only,  Enoch  and  Elijah,  have 
as  yet  escaped  the  stroke  of  death ;  and  at  the  se- 
cond coming  of  Christ,  his  people  who  are  then  alive 
will  also  escape  that  stroke.  (1  Cor.  xv.  31 ;  1  Thess. 
iv.  15 — 17.)  But  that  second  coming  of  Christ  will 
cut  short  this  dispensation  of  man  upon  earth,  and 
bring  death  itself  to  its  second  great  arbitrement. 
The  dead  will  arise.  A  resurrection  of  life — a  re- 
surrection of  damnation.  This  is  the  end  of  tem- 
poral death.  The  souls  and  the  bodies  of  men  are 
united  once  more,  and  so  united  will  undergo  the 
final  judgment.  (1  Cor.  xv.) 

It  is  said  of  our  divine  Redeemer,  that  in  order 
that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  High 
Priest,  it  behooved  him  to  be  made  like  unto  his 
brethren  in  all  things.  (Heb.  ii.  17.)  In  every  part, 
therefore,  of  this  human  dispensation,  this  resem- 


282  CHRIST    THE    LIFE   OF    HIS   PEOPLE. 

blance  exists  to  the  utmost  degree  possible.  He  has 
taken  a  true  human  soul,  and  a  true  human  body, 
into  ineffable  and  eternal  union  with  his  divine 
nature.  The  man  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  as  really 
a  man  as  any  man  that  ever  was  born  of  woman, 
though  supernaturally  made  in  the  womb  of  the 
virgin  Mary,  and  so  not  begotten  under  the  cove- 
nant of  works,  and  thus  not  polluted  by  original  sin. 
He  tabernacled  amongst  men — tempted  in  all  points 
like  as  they  are,  and  bearing  all  those  temporal 
sorrows  which  the  Scriptures  embrace  under  the 
wide  appellation  of  death — so»far  as  that  was  possi- 
ble to  one  free  from  sin.  Being  sinless,  he  was,  so 
to  speak,  naturally  free  from  temporal  death,  in  its 
proper  sense,  whether  as  the  fruit  or  the  penalty  of 
sin.  Though  he  was  crucified,  yet  it  is  also  true 
that  he  laid  down  his  life,  of  which  there  was  no 
power  in  the  universe  that  was  able  to  rob  him. 
(John  x.  18.)  Like  his  brethren,  who  are  to  be 
changed  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 
he  was  transfigured  upon  the  mount.  Like  his 
brethren,  who  endure  the  stroke  of  death,  he  also 
gave  up  the  ghost.  Like  his  brethren,  whose  sepa- 
rate souls  dwell  with  God,  while  their  bodies  sleep 
in  the  grave,  his  separate  human  soul  was  in  the 
bosom  of  God,  while  his  human  body  laid  three  days 
in  the  sepulchre.  Like  his  brethren,  who  are  to 
arise  and  shine,  he  first  of  all  arose  from  the  dead. 
And  so  we  may  not  doubt  that  the  parallel  will 
complete  itself  utterly;  and  his  brethren  like  him 
will  yet  walk  the  earth  in  their  resurrection  bodies, 
and  then  ascend  like  him  in  glory  to  the  highest 
heavens  !  (Rev.  xx.  4,  G,  15.) 


ROBERT    J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  283 

Now,  then,  I  may  group  together,  as  under  the 
preceding  head,  several  topics  too  essentially  con- 
nected with  the  subject  matter  of  my  text,  to  be 
passed  by  even  in  the  briefest  exposition  of  the  sub- 
ject. And,  first :  you  will  perceive  how  absolutely 
our  life  depends  on  Christ,  and  how  completely  the 
whole  scheme  of  the  resurrection  rests  upon  him 
and  terminates  in  him.  Since  the  fall,  we  are  as 
essentially  mortal  as  we  are  depraved.  In  him  we 
not  only  live  and  move  and  have  our  being ;  by  him 
and  for  him  not  only  were  all  things  created,  and 
by  him  do  all  things  consist ;  but,  since  by  man  came 
death,  by  man  came  also  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead;  for  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall 
all  be  made  alive.  (1  Cor.  xv.  21, 22.)  Except  by 
the  power  of  Christ,  and  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  there 
is  no  reason  why  the  human  race,  or  any  individual 
of  it,  should  live  for  a  single  moment,  or  receive  a 
single  mercy  while  they  live ;  or  why,  having  died, 
they  should  rise  again  from  the  dead ;  just  as  there 
is  no  reason  why  any  human  being  should  be  either 
regenerated  or  sanctified,  except  for  the  sake  and  by 
the  work  of  Christ ;  for  to  this  end  Christ  both  died, 
and  rose,  and  revived,  that  he  might  be  the  Lord 
both  of  the  dead  and  living.  (Eom.  xiv.  9.)  Again: 
It  is  very  obvious  from  what  has  just  been  said,  how 
fundamental  to  the  whole  theory  of  Christianity,  and 
therefore  to  the  whole  destiny  of  man,  is  the  fact  of 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  himself.  To  establish  this 
fact  is  one  main  end  of  all  the  Gospels  ;  to  illustrate 
its  bearing  is  one  capital  object  in  all  the  discourses 
of  the  apostles  and  inspired  evangelists  that  have 
come  down  to  us ;  and  to  settle  it  in  our  hearts  as 


284  CHRIST    THE   LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

a  truth,  at  once  infinitely  certain  and  infinitely  preg- 
nant, is  the  aim  of  perhaps  a  larger  portion  of  the 
New  Testament  Scriptures  than  is  devoted  to  any 
other  single  point ;  for  if  Christ  did  not  rise  from 
the  dead,  then  we  shall  never  rise;  then  is  our 
preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  vain ;  then  are  the 
apostles  false  witnesses  of  God,  and  we  are  yet  in 
our  sins,  and  all  they  which  are  fallen  asleep  in 
Christ  are  perished.  But  if  Christ,  who  is  the  image 
of  the  invisible  God,  and  the  first  born  of  every  crea- 
ture, has  risen  from  the  dead  and  become  the  first 
fruits  of  them  that  slept,  then  it  is  certain  that  in 
him  shall  all  be  made  alive,  every  man  in  his  own 
order,  and  next  after  Christ  himself  they  that  are 
Christ's  at  his  coming.  (1  Cor.  xv.  3 — 23.)  Still 
further :  though  the  union  of  the  divine  and  hu- 
man natures  in  the  person  of  Christ,  and  his  death 
and  resurrection,  establish  the  unalterable  certainty 
of  the  utter  destruction  of  temporal  death  and  the 
resurrection  of  the  whole  human  race,  yet  the  resur- 
rection of  the  righteous,  and  the  resurrection  of  the 
wicked,  will  be  infinitely  diverse  in  their  manner 
and  in  their  results.  It  is  of  the  bodies  of  men  only 
that  the  Scriptures  predicate  the  idea,  and  proclaim 
the  fact,  of  a  resurrection.  Death  and  resurrection 
will  produce  on  the  bodies  of  the  righteous  a  change 
so  far  analogous  as  is  possible  to  the  change  wrought 
upon  their  souls  by  regeneration  and  sanctification ; 
and  they  will  in  like  manner  produce  upon  the  bodies 
of  the  wicked  a  change  analogous  to  that  produced 
in  their  souls,  by  the  total  and  final  withdrawal  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  from  them,  and  their  own  complete 
and  irreversible  rejection  of  Christ  and  salvation. 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  285 

There  will  be  a  resurrection  of  life  and  a  resurrec- 
tion of  damnation.  In  the  latter,  the  wicked  will 
rise  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt ;  monuments 
of  dishonour,  of  corruption  and  of  the  second  death. 
In  the  former,  the  righteous  will  arise  to  incorrup- 
tion,  immortality  and  eternal  glory ;  monuments  of 
the  grace  of  God  and  of  the  triumph  of  Christ  over 
his  last  enemy.  (Rev.  xx.  4 — 15.)  Once  more:  in 
the  very  nature  of  the  whole  case,  as  the  Scriptures 
open  it  to  us,  the  necessity  of  our  enduring  what  we 
do,  is  clearly  set  forth.  God  has  provided  for  us  an 
immortal  existence,  not  here,  but  in  another  and 
higher  estate.  For  his  own  glory,  and  for  our 
blessedness,  the  scheme  of  redemption  is  so  arranged 
as  to  operate  upon  us  partly  while  our  souls  and 
bodies  are  united,  partly  after  they  are  separated, 
and  partly  after  they  are  united  again.  In  the  first 
period  of  its  operation,  it  proposes  to  do  nothing  di- 
rectly for  our  mortal  nature,  beyond  what  is  involved 
in  the  bearing  of  its  provisions  for  our  immortal  part 
upon  our  mortal  during  its  pilgrimage.  Therefore 
we  suffer,  and  weep,  and  die.  Jesus  himself  suf- 
fered, and  wept,  and  died.  Yet  even  in  these  con- 
ditions the  grace  of  God  presses  to  the  very  limit  of 
the  possibility  which  his  own  glorious  goodness  and 
wisdom  had  established.  Our  sufferings  are  made 
the  means  of  drawing  us  to  Christ  and  perfecting  us 
in  holiness ;  our  tears  are  wiped  away  as  they  flow, 
by  the  hand  of  God  himself;  all  the  struggles  through 
which  we  pass  give  greater  vigour  to  the  life  of  God 
within  us  ;  when  we  come  to  die,  our  very  death  is 
precious  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  the  grave  yields  to 
us  a  glorious  victory ;  and  then  comes  the  resurrec- 


286  CHRIST    THE    LIFE   OF   HIS    PEOPLE. 

tion,  to  own  and  crown  us  heirs  of  light!  (Psalms 
xxxvii ;  Rom.  viii.)  And,  finally  :  from  the  begin- 
ning to  the  end  of  all,  how  completely  is  Christ  our 
life ;  and  how  wonderfully  is  the  foundation  of  all 
laid,  and  the  surprising  result  brought  about !  In 
such  -a  world  as  this,  what  would  we  be  without  a 
throne  of  grace  to  which  we  could  flee  ?  Amidst 
the  afflictions  and  temptations  of  life,  what  are  we 
without  divine  support  ?  Under  the  burden  of  sin, 
and  the  doom  of  impending  death,  and  the  darkness 
of  a  fathomless  eternity,  whither  can  we  turn  with- 
out a  Saviour  ?  But  who  would  ever  have  thought, 
with  hearts  full  of  enmity  to  God,  of  asking  him  to 
save  us,  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  only  begotten  Son  ? 
Who  would  have  conceived  the  idea  of  the  incarna- 
tion, or,  after  it,  that  of  redemption  by  the  blood  of 
Christ  ?  Who  would  have  imagined  the  stupendous 
concatenation  of  removing  the  sting  of  death  by 
removing  the  virulence  of  sin ;  of  getting  rid  of  the 
guilt  of  sin  by  satisfying  the  law  which  denounced 
it ;  of  silencing  the  law  itself,  by  enduring  its  curse 
and  penalty ;  of  conquering  death,  which  the  law 
denounced,  by  entering  into  the  consuming  and  piti- 
less grave  ?  In  such  a  case,  such  a  plan,  with  such 
a  result !  Oh  !  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the 
wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  !  Oh  !  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ !  (1  Cor.  xv.  54 — 58 ;  Eph. 
iii.  8—21.) 

Thirdly,  of  Christ  as  the  life  of  our  eternal  being. 
The  Scriptures  hardly  recognize  what  we  ordinarily 
call  life,  as  an  estate  worthy  of  that  name.  The 
pollution  of  our  moral  nature,  the  darkness  of  our 
rational  faculties,  and  the  perishing  and  suffering 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  287 

condition  of  our  physical  man,  make  up  an  estate 
not  so  much  of  life  as  of  living  death ;  the  resur- 
rection of  the  wicked  is  expressly  distinguished  from 
a  resurrection  of  life,  by  being  called  a  resurrection 
of  damnation ;  and  the  final  estate  of  the  impeni- 
tent is  denominated  their  second  death — the  doom 
of  Satan,  and  of  all  who  are  deceived  by  him,  of 
"  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet,"  and  of  all  whose 
names  are  not  found  written  in  the  Book  of  Life, 
(Rev.  xx.  10 — 15.)  God  alone  hath  life  in  himself; 
and  the  Lord  Jesus,  claiming  for  himself  this  divine 
prerogative,  and  the  right,  at  his  own  good  pleasure, 
to  bestow  life  upon  others,  expressly  sets  it  forth  as 
a  proof  of  his  own  Godhead.  Himself  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life,  it  was  his  express  errand  upon 
earth  to  bestow  eternal  life  upon  as  many  as  the 
Father  had  given  him;  and  this,  saith  he,  is  life 
eternal,  that  they  might  know  thee,  the  only  true 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent.  (John 
v.  26,  and  xvii.  3.)  I  have  already  traced  the  ope- 
ration of  this  incorruptible  life  in  man,  up  to  the 
period  of  the  resurrection.  It  remains,  under  the 
present  topic,  to  indicate  briefly  its  after  course. 

God  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  he  will 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness,  by  that  man  whom 
he  hath  ordained ;  whereof  he  hath  given  assurance 
unto  all  men,  in  that  he  hath  raised  him  from  the 
dead.  (Acts  xvii.  31.)  This,  you  will  observe,  is  the 
pith  of  the  crushing  argument  why  men  ought  to 
repent  of  their  sins,  addressed  by  the  great  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles  to  the  Epicurean  and  Stoic  philoso- 
phers in  the  Areopagus  at  Athens ;  the  last  men  to 
hear,  and  the  last  place  in  which  to  utter  such  an 


288  CHRIST    THE    LIFE   OF   HIS    PEOPLE. 

appeal,  unless  there  was  that  in  it  to  which  the  hu- 
man conscience  responds,  and  on  which  the  human 
reason  may  rest.  Somewhat  dilated  the  argument 
might  run  thus :  You  are  sensible  of  your  ill  desert, 
and  that  you  ought  to  be  held  accountable  for  it ;  the 
proper  result  of  that  state  of  mind  is  repentance ;  but 
this  is  the  more  urgent  when  you  consider  that  your 
inward  sense  of  ill  desert  and  accountability  is  but 
the  shadow  of  your  impending  destiny,  for  the  true 
God  has  in  fact  appointed  not  only  a  time  to  judge 
you,  but  also  the  judge,  even  Jesus  Christ,  whom  I 
preach  unto  you ;  and  of  these  truths  he  has  given 
you  absolute  assurance  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus, 
which  resurrection  not  only  I,  and  hundreds  besides, 
still  live  to  attest,  but  which  the  power  of  the  divine 
truths  I  proclaim,  and  the  power  of  the  eternal 
Spirit  accompanying  those  truths  in  your  souls, 
which  truths  and  which  Spirit  alike  proceed  from 
Christ,  enforces  with  an  intimate  and  divine  demon- 
stration. Probably  not  one  of  these  sceptics  and  fa- 
talists had  ever,  before  he  saw  Paul,  had  any  distinct 
idea  of  any  single  one  of  all  the  great  elements  of 
this  universal  and  overwhelming  argument,  delivered 
that  day  on  Mars'  hill.  Natural  enough,  therefore, 
was  it  that  some  mocked,  and  that  others  doubted ; 
and  most  natural  of  all  that  the  link  they  struck  at 
in  the  argument  was  the  one  they  knew  least  about, 
and  on  which  all  turned — the  resurrection  of  the 
dead ;  for  even  they  could  see,  and  that  on  the  first 
hearing,  that  if  that  were  true,  all  the  rest  must 
needs  follow.  Howbeit,  Dionysius  the  Areopagite, 
and  certain  men  beside,  and  a  woman  named  Dama- 
ris,  and  others  with  her,  clave  unto  Paul  and  be- 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  289 

lieved ;  God  thus  attesting  that  his  servant  had 
divine  warrant  for  what  he  uttered.  And  therein, 
through  eighteen  centuries,  down  to  this  very  hour, 
the  proclamation  of  this  impending  judgment — of  its 
divine  demonstration — and  of  its  eternal  issues — has 
been  the  burden  of  the  message  of  Christ's  servants 
to  a  ruined  world.     To  it  we  are  now  come. 

Let  us  stand  first  in  the  midst  of  the  just,  that  we 
may  see  how  completely  Christ,  in  this  tremendous 
period  of  their  being,  is  to  every  one  of  them  eternal 
life.  Here  are  the  redeemed  of  every  race — every 
age.  Patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles,  martyrs — all  are 
there.  They  who  had  seen  from  afar  the  promised 
Messiah  ;  they  who  had  followed  him  as  he  went  in 
and  out  upon  earth,  despised  and  rejected  of  men ; 
they  who  had  heard  and  believed,  through  all  suc- 
ceeding ages,  the  sound  of  him,  as  it  went  out  through 
the  whole  world,  not  one  of  them  is  missing.  The 
throng  that  had  fought  the  good  fight;  the  hosts 
that  had  passed  through  great  tribulation  ;  the  mul- 
titudes who  had  sung  the  song  of  rejoicing,  and  the 
still  greater  multitudes  who  had  wept  all  along  the 
ascent  of  Zion  ;  pilgrims  who  had  counted  their 
years  by  centuries ;  pilgrims  whose  days  had  been 
few  and  evil ;  pilgrims  snatched  from  the  evil  to 
come,  who  had  seen  of  earth  only  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death  ;  multitudes — multitudes — thou- 
sand thousands — ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand ! 
Here  and  there  are  scattered  those  who  never  tasted 
death ;  they  had  been  changed  in  a  moment  at  the 
coming  of  the  Lord.  The  rest  had  been  with  Christ 
in  glory,  and  their  sleeping  dust  had   heard  the 

trump  of  God ;  and  now  they  stand  arrayed  in  glo- 
20 


290  CHRIST   THE   LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

rious,  spiritual  bodies.  Mortal  has  put  on  immor- 
tality ;  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory  !  And  yet 
it  is  judgment,  eternal  judgment,  to  which  they  have 
come.  And  there  are  thrones,  and  dominions,  and 
principalities,  and  powers,  and  heavenly  hierarchies 
— all  the  exalted  spirits  of  the  upper  world.  And  in 
the  midst  of  all — enthroned  in  light  that  is  inacces- 
sible and  full  of  glory — one  like  unto  the  Son  of 
man — the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead !  Think  of  Pi- 
late's bar — where  he  once  stood  and  was  condemned, 
and  then  see  him  seated  on  the  throne  of  the  uni- 
verse, with  all  that  universe  contains  of  pure  and 
good,  waiting  with  adoring  trust  to  hear  his  judg- 
ments. Think  of  his  crown  of  thorns,  and  then 
behold  the  diadems  which  are  cast  down  before  him, 
in  token  of  exulting  love  that  will  not  be  repressed  ! 
Think  of  the  cruel  mockings,  the  unpitied  agony  of 
Calvary,  and  then  listen  to  the  triumphant  alleluias 
that  arise  around  his  throne,  and,  mounting  with 
eternal  melody,  strain  after  strain,  from  countless 
millions,  re-echo  from  the  highest  spheres,  and  swell 
beyond  the  farthest  star !  Alleluia !  salvation,  and 
glory,  and  honour,  and  power  unto  the  Lord  our 
God !  Alleluia !  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of  Lords ! 
(Matt.  xxv.  31 ;  Rev.  v.  9—13  ;  xv.  3  ;  xix.  1—16.) 
Yes,  it  is  a  judgment,  but  a  judgment  of  the  just 
made  perfect.  Of  the  countless  millions  who  have 
part  in  that  resurrection  of  life,  there  is  not  one  who 
has  not  been  washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and 
been  made  a  king  and  a  priest  unto  God.  (Rev.  i. 
5 — 6.)  It  is  not  a  judgment  to  ascertain  whether 
they  will  be  saved  or  not — for  they  are  saved  al- 
ready j  nor  to  ascertain  whether  they  are  worthy  of 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D. 


291 


eternal  life — for  every  one  of  them  has  already  re- 
ceived it  at  the  hands  of  Christ.  Most  of  them  have 
been  with  him  in  glory;  the  rest  were  changed,  and 
caught  up  to  him,  at  his  second  coming.  But  still 
the  Books  are  opened — that  Book  which  is  the  rule 
of  eternal  judgment — God's  blessed  Word,  which  we 
have  in  our  hands  to-day ;  the  Books  of  convincing 
testimony,  in  which  is  written  the  whole  record  of 
our  lives  ;  the  Book,  also,  in  which  are  set  down  the 
names  of  the  redeemed — the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life ! 
One  by  one  the  story  of  every  saved  sinner  is  traced. 
All  the  secrets  of  his  heart  are  revealed — all  the  ac- 
tions of  his  life  are  recounted — all  the  greatness  of 
his  ill  desert  established  and  confessed.  But  along 
with  all  this,  the  dealings  of  Christ  with  his  soul — 
the  commencement,  the  progress,  the  consummation, 
of  the  grace  of  God  towards  him — the  life  of  God 
within  him.  And  then  his  glorified  Saviour,  the 
God-man,  proclaims,  as  King  of  Kings,  the  result  he 
has  reached  as  eternal  Judge,  and  the  precise  method 
of  that  result  in  that  individual  case.  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world !  Here  is 
the  mansion  you  are  to  inhabit  for  evermore;  here 
is  your  seat  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb ; 
here  is  the  light  with  which  you  are  to  shine  to  all 
eternity ;  here  is  the  service  in  which  you  are  to  be 
glorified  for  ever  and  ever !  Enter  into  the  joy  of 
your  Lord ;  inherit  eternal  life !  And  then  new  al- 
leluias arise  from  all  the  armies  of  Heaven!  And 
so  another  exhibition  of  God's  method  of  grace  and 
salvation,  and  renewed  alleluias.  And  then  another, 
and  another,  and  another;  onward,  and  onward,  as 


292  CHRIST   THE    LIFE    OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

the  eternal  cycles  pass  over  a  universe  in  which  time 
no  longer  exists  to  be  measured ;  until  every  mani- 
festation of  God's  grace  in  every  redeemed  sinner 
shall  be  exhibited  to  all  the  angels  of  God,  and  to 
all  the  just  made  perfect;  and  until  the  fact  and  the 
method  of  salvation,  in  the  case  of  every  saved  sin- 
ner, shall  be  judicially  ascertained,  and  the  position 
of  each  one  in  the  heavenly  hosts  proclaimed  from 
the  throne  of  God,  in  the  hearing  of  all  worlds  !  Oh  I 
what  majesty  to  God ;  what  blessedness  to  the  re- 
deemed ;  what  glory  with  Christ  their  life  in  this 
first  period  of  their  eternal  being,  as  they  reign  with 
him  in  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  expatiate 
through  a  universe  wherein  he  has  made  all  things 
new  !  (Matt.  xxv. ;  2  Pet.  iii. ;  Rev.  xx.) 

And  where  are  the  impenitent  ?  David  has  told 
us  long  ago  that  sinners  shall  not  stand  in  the  con- 
gregation, nor  the  ungodly  in  the  judgment  of  the 
righteous.  (Psalm  i.  5.)  Christ  himself  has  said,  that 
when  he  comes  in  glory  he  will  separate  the  blessed 
from  the  accursed,  as  a  shepherd  separates  his  sheep 
from  his  goats,  and  then  will  judge  the  righteous 
first,  and  afterwards  doom  the  accursed.  (Matt. 
xxv.  32.)  We  are  abundantly  informed  that  there 
is  a  first  and  a  second  resurrection ;  that  there  is  an 
eternal  order,  both  in  the  resurrection  and  the  judg- 
ment, by  which  the  triumphant  acquittal  of  the  re- 
deemed precedes  the  doom  of  the  wicked ;  and  by 
which  the  rest  of  the  dead  five  not  again  till  the 
thousand  years  are  fulfilled,  during  which  those  who 
have  part  in  the  first  resurrection  live  and  reign  with 
Christ.  (1  Cor.  xv.  23.  Rom.  xx.  3 — 6.)  And  now, 
when  the  hour  is  come  for  the  Lord  Jesus  to  be  re- 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  293 

vealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels  in  flam- 
ing fire,  to  take  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not 
God,  and  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  they  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  de- 
struction from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from 
the  glory  of  his  power.  (2  vThess.  i.  7 — 8.)  Now  is 
the  hour  fully  come  for  fire  to  come  down  from  God 
out  of  heaven  and  destroy  all  the  wicked ;  for  hell 
to  give  up  the  dead  that  are  in  it ;  for  Satan  to  be 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire ;  for  death  and  hell  to  per- 
ish ;  for  the  enemies  of  God  to  be  tormented  day  and 
night  for  ever  and  ever ;  for  the  second  death  to  be- 
gin its  interminable  reign !  (Rev.  xx.)  As  we  con- 
template this  scene  of  horror,  and  bear  in  mind  that 
we  have  deserved  to  incur  its  eternal  woe,  and  will 
escape  it  only  because  Christ  is  our  life,  we  ought  to 
have  some  foretaste  of  the  thrill  with  which  the 
hosts  of  God  turn  away  from  the  abyss  and  shout 
hosannah  to  the  Lamb ! 

There  is  another  point.  The  Scriptures  teach  us, 
with  abundant  clearness,  that  although  every  part 
of  the  dispensation  of  God's  grace  has  direct  relation 
to  the  person,  the  work  and  the  glory  of  Christ,  yet 
Christ  occupies,  in  many  respects,  a  different  posi- 
tion under  each  successive  development  of  the  whole 
plan  of  God's  infinite  mercy.  During  his  personal 
ministry  on  earth,  he  occupied  a  position  materially 
dissimilar  to  any  he  had  ever  occupied  before ;  and 
so  now,  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  his  position 
is  widely  different  from  what  it  had  ever  been  before 
his  infinite  exaltation.  In  like  manner,  when  the 
dispensation  of  grace,  strictly  so  called,  is  ended  by 
the  second  coming  of  Christ  and  the  resurrection  of 


294  CHRIST    THE   LIFE   OF   HIS   PEOPLE. 

the  righteous,  a  new  aspect  of  his  work  and  his  rela- 
tion to  his  people  manifests  itself;  and  again  an- 
other, in  all  that  constitutes  the  judgment  and  ac- 
quittal of  the  righteous,  and  the  doom  of  the  wicked. 
After  these  things,  what  will  follow?  Let  us  hear 
what  the  Holy  Ghost  saith.  In  his  great  discourse 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  under  which  three  thousand 
souls  believed,  and  in  his  second  mighty  exposition 
a  little  after,  in  the  temple,  under  which  five  thou- 
sand men  believed,  the  apostle  Peter  carries  us  far 
into  these  sublime  events.  The  heavens  must  re- 
ceive Jesus  Christ,  said  he,  until  the  times  of  the 
restitution  of  all  things,  which  God  hath  spoken  by 
the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  prophets  since  the  world 
began ;  and  he  urged  that  great  testimony  of  David : 
"  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord,  sit  thou  on  my  right 
hand  until  I  make  thy  foes  thy  footstool."  (Acts  ii. 
34,  and  iii.  21.)  That  exaltation  and  that  reign  of 
Christ  was  not,  therefore,  the  final  dispensation ;  it 
was  a  dispensation  and  a  reign  until  such  a  time  and 
such  events.  I  suppose  the  second  coining  of  Christ, 
and  the  resurrection  of  the  righteous  dead,  will  de- 
velope  what  was  wrapped  up  in  that  until.  Again : 
in  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  amongst  the  infi- 
nite blessings  and  glories  promised  to  those  who 
shall  come  off  conquerors,  the  crowning  promise  is : 
"  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with 
me  in  my  throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame  and  am 
set  down  with  my  Father  on  his  throne."  (Rev.  iii. 
21.)  Here  is  a  very  broad  distinction  between  the 
throne  of  the  Father  and  that  of  the  glorified  God- 
man  ;  and  a  very  clear  indication  that,  as  yet,  the 
latter  had   not   been   ascended;  that   until  before 


ROBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  295 

spoken  of  stood  between  the  two  thrones ;  the  whole 
period,  namely,  from  the  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ 
till  his  second  coming.  Now,  of  those  who  have 
part  in  the  first  resurrection  is  it  expressly  written, 
that  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand 
years.  (Rev.  xx.  4,  5.)  The  Lord  Jesus  plainly  said 
to  his  apostles,  that  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  sit 
in  the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit  upon 
twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 
(Matt.  xix.  28.)  And  the  apostle  Paul,  in  his  trea- 
tise on  the  resurrection,  declares  that  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ's  people,  at  his  second  coming,  will  be 
followed  by  the  reign  of  Christ  till  he  has  put  all  his 
enemies  under  his  feet,  and  that  the  last  enemy  that 
shall  be  destroyed  is  death.  (1  Cor.  xv.  23,  25,  26.) 
Here,  then,  is  another  limitation,  another  until;  and 
as  we  are  told  that  death  will  be  destroyed  when 
Satan  is  cast  into  hell,  and  the  wicked  enter  upon 
the  second  death,  (Rev.  xx.  10,  14,)  this  until  is  ex- 
plained to  us,  and  a  new  development  of  the  dispen- 
sation of  Christ  intimated  to  commence  after  the 
doom  of  the  wicked.  There  remains,  therefore, 
after  that,  another  development  of  the  eternal  life 
of  the  blessed ;  and  the  Scriptures  briefly,  but  clearly, 
initiate  us  into  the  knowledge  of  it. 

In  the  passage  just  cited  from  the  first  epistle  to 
the  Corinthians,  this  order  is  declared  touching  the 
sublime  topic  of  which  the  apostle  is  treating. 
First,  the  resurrection  of  Christ  himself;  afterward, 
who  can  tell  how  long  afterward  ?  the  second  coming 
of  Christ,  and  the  resurrection  of  his  people  at  that 
coming;  then,  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all 
rule,  and  all  authority,  and  all  power,  and  shall 


296  cnwsT  the  life  of  his  people. 

have  destroyed  death,  then,  after  that  reign  of  the 
saints   with   Christ,   cometh  the  end!    (1  Cor.  xv. 
23 — 26.)      And  then   will   Christ  deliver   up   the 
kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father,  (verse  24.)     He 
will  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  the  Father,  upon  the 
Lamb's  Book  of  Life,  (Rev.  xx.  15,  and  xxi.  27,)  that 
glorious  record  containing  a  complete  list  of  their 
names,  and  being  of  itself  a  perfect  evidence  of  their 
redemption,  their  regeneration,  their  sanctification, 
their  glorious  resurrection,  their  acquittal  in  the  day 
of  judgment,  their   reign   with    Christ,    and   their 
right,  through  him,  to  inherit  the  eternal  kingdom. 
And  then  shall  the  Son  also  himself  be  subject  unto 
Him  that  put  all  things  under  him,  that  God  may 
be  all  in  all.     (1   Cor.   xv.  28.)      And  here   made 
partakers  of  the  divine   nature  —  admitted  to  the 
immediate  presence  and  full  fruition  of  God — made 
perfectly  blessed  in  the  enjoyment  of    him  —  the 
Scriptures  launch  us  upon  this  eternal  and  incon- 
ceivably glorious  and  exalted  state  of  existence,  and 
close  the  revelations  of  God !     The  dispensation  of 
Jesus  Christ,  as  the  Redeemer  of  God's  elect,  has 
passed  through  all  its  wondrous  phases ;  the  king- 
dom, the  power,  and  the  glory,  have  all  been  illus- 
trated and  established ;  nothing  remains  that  is  not 
subject  to  him,  except  only  He  which  did  put  all 
things  under  him  (1  Cor.  xv.  27);  the  end  is  fully 
reached,  in  that  highest  conception  which  mortals 
can  have  of  it,  that  God  is  all  in  all !     The  human 
race,  too,  has  passed  through  all  its  revealed  phases ; 
its  existence  upon  earth ;  its  existence  after  death ; 
its  existence  after  the  resurrection;  and  its  high 
service  and  enjoyment  of  God  in  glory  to  all  eter- 


EOBERT   J.    BRECKINRIDGE,    D.    D.  297 

nity,  is  begun.  In  the  broadest  view  it  is  possible 
for  us  to  take  of  all  Christ's  work,  and  our  own 
career  and  destiny,  as  well  as  in  the  most  minute 
and  circumstantial  examination  we  can  make  of 
every  particular  part,  both  of  one  and  the  other, 
nothing  is  so  clearly  and  so  constantly  obvious,  as 
that  Christ  is  our  life  in  the  whole,  and  in  every 
part ;  the  life  of  our  spiritual  nature,  the  life  of  our 
mortal  being,  the  life  of  our  immortal  existence. 
This  is  the  sublime  and  consoling  truth  we  set  out  to 
elucidate  by  the  testimony  of  God. 

If  we  desire  to  live  under  the  impression  which 
this  divine  truth  ought  to  create,  and  which  this 
glorious  destiny  requires,  we  have  only  to  listen  to 
what  the  apostle  has  told  us  in  connection  with  the 
words  of  my  text,  to  discover  what  is  required  of 
us  in  that  great  endeavour.  We  ought,  says  he,  to 
seek  those  things  which  are  above,  and  set  our  affec- 
tions on  them,  and  not  on  things  on  the  earth ;  re- 
membering that  we  are  dead,  and  that  our  life  is  hid 
with  Christ  in  God.  We  ought  to  mortify  our  mem- 
bers which  are  upon  the  earth ;  for  the  lack  of  doing 
which,  we  are  prone  to  fall  into  those  sins,  for  the 
sake  of  which  the  wrath  of  God  cometh  on  the  chil- 
dren of  disobedience,  and  in  which  we  once  lived 
ourselves.  But  now,  seeing  that  we  have  put  off  the 
old  man,  with  his  deeds,  and  have  put  on  the  new 
man,  which  is  renewed  in  knowledge,  after  the  im- 
age of  him  that  created  him ;  we  ought  continually 
to  shun  all  evil,  and  pursue  all  good ;  under  the  fixed 
and  felt  conviction,  that  to  us  Christ  is  all  and  in 
all.  We  ought,  as  the  elect  of  God,  who  profess 
righteousness  and  who  trust  that  God  loves  us,  to 


298  CHRIST    THE    LIFE   OF    HIS   PEOPLE. 

put  on  bowels  of  mercies,  kindness,  humbleness  of 
mind,  meekness,  long-suffering,  forbearance,  forgive- 
ness ;  striving  to  imitate  the  Lord  Christ,  and  crown- 
ing all  with  that  charity  which  is  the  bond  of  per- 
fectness.  Thus  may  the  peace  of  God  reign  in  our 
grateful  hearts ;  thus  may  the  Word  of  Christ  dwell 
in  us  richly  in  all  wisdom ;  thus  the  power  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  may  be  shown  forth  in  us ;  thus  in  all 
the  relations  which  we  sustain  upon  earth,  may  we 
adorn  the  doctrine  we  profess,  and  honour  the  Lord 
whom  we  adore.  So  may  we  be  able,  by  God's 
grace,  to  make  our  way  good  out  of  this,  a  ruined 
world,  and  get  safely,  perhaps  triumphantly,  through 
the  sin  and  death  that  reign  in  it.  And  when  Christ, 
iclio  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  may  we  also  ap- 
pear with  him  in  glory.  And  when  all  the  redeemed 
shall  be  presented  faultless  before  God,  and  be  de- 
livered up  upon  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life,  then  may 
we  too  inherit  the  kingdom,  prepared  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world,  for  all  the  blessed  of  the  Father ! 
Glorious  hope,  which  maketh  not  ashamed ! 


FAITH  AND  SIGHT  CONTRASTED. 


A.   T.   M'GILL,   D.   D. 

PROFESSOR   IN  THE    WESTERN  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY,    ALLEGHANY,  FENNA. 


For  we  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight. — 2  Cor.  5 — 7. 

It  is  a  singular  fact,  in  the  history  of  redemption, 
that  the  faculty  in  man,  which  deceived  him  to  his 
ruin  at  the  first,  is  never  restored  to  perfect  confi- 
dence this  side  of  heaven.  That  faculty  is  sense,  in 
the  widest  acceptation  of  the  term,  which  we  here 
extend  to  internal  emotion  as  well  as  external  per- 
ception. While,  in  the  direction  of  ordinary  life,  the 
most  simple  and  unerring  of  all  evidence  is  that  of 
the  senses,  in  the  great  duty  of  dealing  with  God, 
in  reference  to  the  conduct,  acceptance,  and  ever- 
lasting welfare  of  the  soul,  it  is  the  most  imperfect 
and  fallacious  of  all  reliances.  Through  this  avenue 
sin  entered,  and  God  seems  to  have  closed  it  indig- 
nantly against  all  further  intercourse  with  him, 
while  we  continue  in  this  evil  tenement.  As  if  it 
were  some  facile  door,  through  which  thieves  and 
robbers  once  entered,  and  would  still  enter,  to  mar 
and  spoil  the  house,  the  glorious  Builder  will  have  it 
opened  no  more,  in  spiritual  communication  with 
himself,   until  the  whole  building   shall  be  taken 

(299) 


300  FAITH   AND    SIGHT   CONTRASTED. 

down,  and  reconstructed  on  the  model  of  a  glorious 
immortality. 

Through  the  senses  it  was  that  the  tempter  first 
invaded  the  soul ;  "  when  the  woman  saw  that  the 
tree  was  good  for  food,  and  that  it  was  pleasant  to 
the  eyes,  and  a  tree  to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise, 
she  took  of  the  fruit  thereof  and  did  eat,  and  gave 
also  to  her  husband  with  her,  and  he  did  eat."  Now 
that  eye,  that  ear,  that  touch,  that  taste,  that  sense 
of  every  kind  is  all  disparaged  in  the  remedial  deal- 
ing of  God ;  and  faith  is  the  eye,  the  ear,  the  touch, 
the  taste,  the  one  all  engrossing  faculty  by  which 
grace  renovates  and  rules  the  soul.  Religion  and 
the  senses  are  divorced.  These  are  degraded  to  the 
rank  of  handmaiden  ;  and  never  will  the  soul  repose 
with  confidence  upon  them  more,  until  error  and 
frailty  shall  have  been  for  ever  removed.  The  apostle 
intimates,  in  this  connection,  that  we  shall  hereafter 
walk  by  sight.  When  appearances  will  no  longer 
deceive  us ;  when  the  highest  good  will  be  for  ever 
present  to  the  soul ;  when  the  senses  will  be  glori- 
ously transformed,  and  made  perfect  in  heaven,  we 
shall  walk  by  what  we  do  see  and  know.  But,  for 
the  present,  wherever  there  is  spiritual  life, 

I.  We  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  carnal  sight. 
II.  We  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  spiritual  sight. 

III.  We  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  glorified  sight. 

I.  "All  men  have  not  faith."  There  is  all  the 
difference  between  those  who  have  this  grace,  and 
those  who  have  it  not,  that  another  sense  would 
make  in  the  range  of  man's  power  and  enjoyment. 
How  immeasurably  wider  the  perceptions  of  a  blind 
man,  when  suddenly  admitted  or  restored  to  the 


A.  T.  m'gill,  d.  d.  301 

window  of  the  eye.  Where  he  had  groped  along, 
and  stumbled  with  faltering  footsteps,  a  wide,  and 
distant,  and  adorned  horizon  bursts  upon  his 
view.  More  extended,  more  enchanting,  more  im- 
portant unspeakably,  is  the  enlargement  when  God 
restores  the  eye  of  faith  to  the  soul.  It  sees  a 
guide,  a  chart,  a  destination,  which  the  spiritually 
blind  can  never  perceive.  It  spreads  another  hue 
on  all  it  scans ;  inspires  new  emotions,  new  estima- 
tions, and  animates  to  incomparably  greater  speed 
the  career  on  which  it  enters  the  soul. 

1.  Sight  regards  only  things  which  are  seen;  but 
faith,  things  which  are  not  seen.  (2  Cor.  iv.  18.)  It 
could  not  be  otherwise  with  maimed  and  defective 
nature  than  to  seek  those  things  only  which  its 
powers  are  fitted  to  perceive.  We  may  crowd  as- 
surances of  divine  realities  upon  the  natural  man, 
and  compel  his  assent  to  the  evidence  that  they  are 
realities  of  momentous  import,  and  yet  he  is  no  more 
actuated  by  them,  in  his  conduct,  than  is  the  deaf 
man  by  all  the  harmonies  of  music.  There  may  be 
a  notional  apprehension  entertained  with  zeal.  Men, 
from  what  they  read  in  the  Word  of  God,  and  what 
they  see  in  the  conduct  of  others,  and  what  they 
love  by  the  dint  of  habit,  and  what  they  fear  by  the 
force  of  conscience  and  superstition,  may  seem  to 
walk  at  times  as  though  divine  realities  were  be- 
lieved, when  all  the  while  it  is  but  sight  that  actu- 
ates them.  Every  thing  short  of  the  faith,  which 
fixes  a  clear,  and  calm,  and  steadfast,  and  transform- 
ing reliance  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "whom,  hav- 
ing not  seen,  Ave  love ;  in  whom,  though  now  we  see 
him  not,  yet  believing,  we  rejoice  with  joy  unspeak- 


302  FAITH   AND   SIGHT   CONTRASTED. 

able  and  full  of  glory;"  every  thing  short  of  the 
faith  which  "endures  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisi- 
ble," is  sight ;  which  gathers  all  its  motives  and  ac- 
tivity from  what  is  visible  and  palpable. 

2.  Sight  regards  what  is  present,  faith  what  is 
future.  It  is  "the  substance  of  things  hoped  for," 
as  well  as  "the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  It  is 
its  great  peculiarity,  not  only  to  displace  palpable 
things  in  their  power  on  the  heart,  by  things  of 
purely  fiducial  realization,  but  to  grasp  these  as  they 
lie  in  futurity  also.  It  is  not  only  impossible  that 
the  natural  man  be  influenced  by  what  is  unseen, 
more  than  what  is  seen  and  felt,  but  still  more,  that 
he  be  influenced  by  unseen  realities,  in  anticipation, 
more  than  by  what  is  in  present  and  actual  contact 
with  his  feelings  and  desires.  Without  true  faith, 
to  fill  up  the  void  with  animating  hopes  of  the  fu- 
ture, religion,  which  sweeps  from  the  soul  its  tem- 
poral gratifications,  would  be  an  agonizing  empti- 
ness— the  most  intolerable  of  all  conditions.  All  men 
would  forsake  it,  like  Demas,  through  love  of  this 
present  world.  Sight  is  always  spreading  enchant- 
ment over  the  present  scene.  Fast  as  experience 
detects  the  mockery  of  one  illusion,  she  spreads 
another  and  a  fresh  attraction,  persuading  the  soul, 
in  spite  of  its  sober  convictions,  to  five  as  though 
its  inward  thought  were,  "this  house  shall  continue 
for  ever,  this  dwelling  place  to  all  generations."  But 
faith  unmasks  the  charm,  and  however  faintly  done, 
holds  the  future  with  steady  and  constraining  influ- 
ence before  us ;  all  is  disenchanted  at  her  touch ; 
the  world  is  a  wilderness ;  the  soul  is  made  to  come 
up  from  it,  leaning  on  none  of  its  pleasures,  repos- 


A.  T.  m'gill,  d.  d.  303 

mg  on  none  of  its  confidences — leaning  on  "the  be- 
loved" alone.  "  But  now  they  desire  a  better  coun- 
try, that  is  an  heavenly;  wherefore  God  is  not 
ashamed  to  be  called  their  God,  for  he  hath  pre- 
pared for  them  a  city."  While  the  companions  of  a 
believer,  like  the  children  of  Eeuben,  are  always 
choosing  their  inheritance  on  this  side  of  Jordan,  his 
eye  is  onward  and  over  to  Canaan  itself.  While  one 
takes  up  with  this,  and  another  with  that  earthly 
portion,  "  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the 
cross  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world 
is  crucified  to  me,  and  I  unto  the  world." 

3.  Sight  regards  what  is  pleasant;  faith  what  is 
good.  It  is  pleasant  to  choose  a  broad  and  down- 
ward way  through  this  rugged  and  inhospitable 
world ;  and  to  crowd  the  way  with  as  large  a  com- 
pany as  possible,  where  we  have  so  many  mutual 
wants  and  dependencies — pleasant  to  incur  the  re- 
proach or  disfavour  of  no  one  in  the  journey,  but  go 
hand  in  hand  with  the  multitude,  who  "measure 
themselves  by  themselves,  and  compare  themselves 
among  themselves."  It  is  pleasant  to  avoid  every 
high  hill  and  threatening  danger  on  the  road ;  and 
to  turn  away  backward,  or  wind  circuitously  onward, 
rather  than  encounter  hardships  and  perils  in  the 
straightest  course.  But  faith  gives  other  counsel. 
"  Enter  in  at  the  straight  gate ;  for  wide  is  the  gate 
and  broad  is  the  way  that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and 
many  there  be  that  go  in  thereat."  "  Be  not  con- 
formed to  this  world."  "  The  fear  of  man  bringeth 
a  snare ;  but  whoso  putteth  his  trust  in  the  Lord 
shall  be  safe."  "  Cursed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in 
man,  and  maketh  flesh  his  arm,  and  whose  heart 


304  FAITH   AND   SIGHT   CONTRASTED. 

departeth  from  the  Lord."  "  Woe  to  them  that  call 
evil  good  and  good  evil,  that  put  darkness  for  light 
and  light  for  darkness,  bitter  for  sweet  and  sweet 
for  bitter."  Through  every  gilded  pleasure,  faith 
perceives  the  poison  and  the  sting;  through  every 
kiss  of  kind  profession,  faith  detects  a  dagger  for  the 
heart;  through  every  green  and  flowery  resting 
place,  faith  discerns  bowels  of  burning  lava  under- 
neath, ready  to  engulph  the  soul,  and  drown  it  in 
destruction  and  perdition.  "  Come,"  says  sight,  "  I 
have  decked  my  bed  with  coverings  of  tapestry,  wTith 
carved  works,  with  fine  linen  from  Egypt ;  I  have 
perfumed  my  bed  with  myrrh,  aloes,  and  cinnamon ;" 
and,  "  as  a  bird  hasteth  to  the  snare  of  the  fowler, 
and  knoweth  not  it  is  for  his  life,"  we  would  go  after 
her,  but  for  the  guardian  counsel  of  faith ;  "  the  dead 
are  there,  her  guests  are  in  the  depths  of  hell." 
"  Come  with  me  from  Lebanon,  my  spouse,  with  me 
from  Lebanon;  look  from  the  top  of  Amena  and 
Shenir,  from  the  lions'  dens,  from  the  mountains  of 
the  leopards." 

4.  Sight  recoils  from  present  evil  as  eagerly  as  it 
embraces  present  good ;  while  faith  welcomes  pres- 
ent evil  as  cordially  as  it  rejects  the  present  gilded 
good.  "  Therefore  I  take  pleasure,"  says  the  apos- 
tle, "  in  infirmities,  in  reproaches,  in  necessities,  in 
persecutions,  in  distresses,  for  Christ's  sake;  for 
when  I  am  wreak,  then  am  I  strong."  Affliction, 
which  sight  considers  heavy,  too  heavy  for  us  to 
bear,  faith  considers  "  light ;"  affliction,  which  sight 
will  reckon  to  be  long  as  life,  and  for  ever,  faith  con- 
siders to  be  but  "  for  a  small  moment ;"  affliction, 
which  sight  and  sense  regard  as  deadly,  baleful  to 


A.  T.  m'gill,  d.  d.  305 

every  fond  hope  of  the  future,  faith  discovers  to 
work  "  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory."  He  hates  me,  says  sense,  and  therefore  chas- 
tises me ;  "  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth," 
says  faith,  "  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he  re- 
ceiveth."  She  is  never  ashamed  or  confounded, 
world  without  end.  The  darkest  hour  of  night  is  to 
her  the  harbinger  of  brilliant  morning.  "  When 
clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  him,"  she  sees 
that  "  righteousness  and  judgment  are  the  habitation 
of  his  throne." 

II.  We  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  spiritual  sight. 
Besides  that  carnal  sight,  which  believers  retain,  to 
some  extent,  in  common  with  other  men,  and  which, 
although  subdued  by  grace,  and  subordinated  by  the 
power  of  faith,  is  ever  beclouding  and  enfeebling  the 
exercise  of  this  heavenly  grace,  there  is  in  the  re- 
newed man  a  consciousness  of  spiritual  life  and 
pOwer,  which  impels  him  to  the  duties  and  enjoy- 
ments of  religious  experience,  in  a  manner  that  is 
clearly  distinguishable  from  the  controlling  power  of 
faith.  This  principle  of  walking  is  known  by  vari- 
ous names  in  theological  parlance — the  religion  of 
feeling,  sensible  assurance,  spiritual  affection,  &c. 
But,  however  delightful  and  animating  this  impul- 
sion may  be  to  the  soul,  it  is  not  the  great  principle 
by  which  we  walk ;  it  is  not  the  means  of  our  daily 
strength  and  comfort  in  the  service  of  God.  Faith, 
as  even  distinguished  from  this  sensible  experience, 
constitutes  the  mainspring  of  all  our  present  obedi- 
ence and  enjoyment. 

Faith  is  duty — sight  or  sense  of  grace  is  privilege. 
Duty  is  ever  incumbent  and  invariable — privilege  is, 
21 


306  FAITH   AND   SIGHT    CONTRASTED. 

for  the  most  part,  occasional,  and  granted  or  with- 
held according  to  the  sovereign  pleasure  of  God. 
"  Trust  in  the  Lord  at  all  times,"  says  the  Psalmist ; 
"Who  is  among  you  that  feareth  the  Lord,  that 
obeyeth  the  voice  of  his  servant,  that  walketh  in 
darkness  and  hath  no  light,  let  him  trust  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  and  stay  upon  his  God."  All  be- 
lievers have  faith  in  God ;  but  all  have  not  sensible 
joy  in  the  light  of  his  countenance.  This,  like 
every  other  privilege,  is  granted  only  where  He  sees 
it  to  be  for  our  good.  It  would  be  of  no  benefit  to 
some  believers  to  enjoy  full  assurance  in  themselves, 
that  they  stand  firm  and  safe  in  the  everlasting 
covenant.  Some  servants  of  the  world  are  such 
prodigals  in  living  that  their  wages  must  be  kept 
from  them  until  the  season  of  working  is  over ;  some 
children  of  God  have  so  much  pride  and  self-confi- 
dence besetting  their  spiritual  life,  that  glimpses  of 
sensible  delight  are  withheld  from  them  for  a  life- 
time, in  order  to  develope  the  most  needful  graces 
and  give  them  appropriate  culture.  Mortification 
and  self-abasement  peculiarly  befit  their  constitu- 
tional weakness,  and  every  disclosure  of  divine  love, 
which  this  weakness  might  readily  pervert,  must  be 
in  mercy  withheld ;  so  that  the  very  same  love  of 
God  which  imparts  to  humble  believers  transporting 
demonstrations  of  covenanted  favour,  denies  them  to 
the  proud  through  a  long  probation,  which  may  be 
lasting  as  life.  You  are  as  safely  held  in  the  secu- 
rities of  the  great  salvation  without  one  gleam  of 
absolute  assurance,  through  all  the  course  of  your 
pilgrimage,  if  faith  be  following  hard  after  God,  as 
if  you  could  see  and  feel  the  certainty  of  this  salva- 


A.  t.  m'gill,*d.  d.  307 

tion  at  every  step  of  your  journey;  although,  indeed, 
a  sad  deprivation  of  heaven  upon  earth  must  be  the 
loss  of  such  a  diversity  in  your  spiritual  lot. 

Faith  is  direct — sense  is  reflex.  It  is  only  in  the 
way  of  exercising  faith — it  is  only  after  faith  has 
journeyed  onward  for  a  distance,  that  we  can.  look 
back  and  see  that  our  pathway  is  certainly  right  and 
heavenward.  They  who  would  walk  by  a  sight  of 
grace  in  their  hearts,  and  hesitate  in  the  exercise  of 
faith  upon  Christ,  because  they  do  not  first  feel  and 
know  that  he  is  gracious,  are  about  as  reasonable  as 
men  who  would  try  to  know  how  far  they  have  tra- 
velled towards  their  destination  before  they  take  a 
step  in  the  journey.  Faith  is  the  hand  which  opens 
the  fountain  of  every  blessing;  and  long  must  a 
fountain  flow  into  a  broken  cistern  before  it  is  full 
enough  to  reflect  the  image  of  Jesus  from  the  calm 
surface  of  a  bosom  replenished  with  graces.  Faith 
is  precious  seed,  which  contains  the  germ  of  sensible 
assurance  as  one  of  its  fruits  or  developments ;  and 
while  other  fruits  must  be  put  forth,  more  or  less, 
under  all  circumstances  of  the  present  life,  here  is 
one  which  we  may  expect  only  in  soil  peculiar]y 
cultivated  with  the  graces  of  humility  and  meekness. 
And  for  us  to  falter  and  hesitate  in  believing,  be- 
cause wre  do  not  already  enjoy  this  sensible  experi- 
ence, is  about  as  reasonable  as  to  expect  fruit  before 
we  have  planted  the  germ,  and  to  decline  all  ordi- 
nary fruits  because  we  do  not  first  enjoy  one  of  rare 
and  extraordinary  production. 

This  sensible  experience  of  grace  in  the  heart  is 
not  necessary,  even  as  an  evidence  that  we  do  be- 
lieve ;  the  fruits  exhibited  in  our  life  and  conduct 


308  FAITH    AND    SIGHT    CONTRASTED. 

are  such  evidence.  Be  this  all  your  concern — to 
prove  your  faith  by  your  works,  and  be  assured  that 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  "joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory,"  will  be  vouchsafed,  so  far  as  it  is  needful, 
to  help  you  on  the  way  to  heaven. 

Faith  gives  more  glory  to  God  than  does  sensible 
delight.  Thomas  would  not  believe  unless  he  saw 
the  object  of  faith  in  every  particular  of  sensible  de- 
monstration ;  and  it  was  then  said,  with  an  emphasis 
for  ever  memorable:  "Blessed  are  they  who  have 
not  seen,  and  yet  have. believed."  It  gives  God  but 
little  glory  when  we  can  trust  him  only  as  we  trust 
our  fellow  men,  on  whom  we  must  lean  by  the  help 
of  something  beyond  their  simple  words — when  we 
cannot  venture  the  soul  upon  a  promise  without 
some  feeling  that  it  will  be  fulfilled.  Abraham  was 
"strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God,"  because, 
"against  hope  he  believed  in  hope;"  against  all 
probabilities  for  the  fulfilment  of  a  promise,  and 
even  mountain  impossibilities  to  the  eye  of  sense,  he 
reposed,  with  unshaken  trust,  upon  the  truth  and 
faithfulness  of  God.  This,  indeed,  is  to  honour  his 
word.  And  until  our  faith  is  schooled  in  the  art  of 
clinging  to  the  naked  truth  of  Jehovah  in  his  pro- 
mise, without  a  ray  of  visible  demonstration,  within 
us  or  without  us,  it  is  not  schooled  enough  for 
heaven. 

Faith  is  uniform — sense  is  fluctuating.  The  Chris- 
tian career  is  called  a  walk,  a  race,  a  fight;  without 
discharge  for  a  moment.  If  we  travelled  on  shoes 
which  are  not  "iron  and  brass"  in  durability — on 
wheels  of  agitation,  which  are  ever  and  anon  rolling 
off  from  us ;  or  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  a  tide, 


A.  T.  m'gill,  d.  d.  309 

which  tosses  us  to  heaven  to-day,  and  leaves  us  drag- 
ging on  a  rock  to-morrow — could  we  ever  make  the 
destination  sure  ?  Must  we  not  have  a  principle  of 
progress  that  is  uniform  in  acting,  and  always  ready ; 
that  will  pierce  the  heavens  for  light  when  they  are 
embossed  in  thickest  darkness,  and  make  even  the 
lightning  flash  of  God's  anger  help  along  the  way  of 
duty  when  his  face  is  hidden  with  impenetrable 
gloom  ? 

Faith  is  indubitable — sense  may  deceive  the  soul 
with  innumerable  counterfeits.  The  object  of  faith 
is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — the  warrant  of  faith  is  his 
true  and  faithful  word ;  and  while  ever  it  holds  this 
object,  by  the  strength  of  this  warrant,  heaven  and 
earth  may  fail,  and  your  very  existence  prove  a  de- 
lusion before  such  a  faith  can  fail  or  deceive  the 
soul.  But  we  know  how  miserably  fallacious  may 
be  the  religion  of  feeling,  and  how  false  a  joy  may 
pervade  even  the  breast  of  a  true  believer.  "  Where 
is  then  the  blessedness  ye  spake  of?"  may  be  the 
reproachful  query,  after  many  a  season  of  mistaken 
delight.  "  My  mountain  stands  strong,  I  shall  never 
be  moved,"  said  the  Psalmist,  in  a  season  of  high 
feeling  and  emotion;  but  how  quickly  afterwards 
does  he  exclaim,  "  Thou  didst  hide  thy  face,  and  I 
was  troubled." 

Faith  will  triumph  in  death,  ivhen  the  religion  of 
feeling  may  be  all  overwhelmed.  When  all  the  pow- 
ers of  darkness  are  summoned  to  their  last  efforts  of 
hostility  and  rage ;  when  fiery  darts  of  doubt,  dis- 
quietude, and  fear,  are  hurled  by  a  thousand  prac- 
tised arms  of  temptation ;  when  our  natural  strength 
is  all  abated  and  sunk  to  the  feeblest  infancy ;  when 


310  FAITH   AND    SIGHT    CONTRASTED. 

memory  itself  has  failed,  and  not  one  Bethel  of 
happy  communion,  not  one  anointed  pillar  in  the 
way,  can  be  recalled  for  comfort,  what  shall  be  the 
refuge  of  th£  soul,  or  what  its  armour  ?  What  we  see 
and  feel  of  grace  in  the  heart,  or  demonstration  in 
the  life  which  is  now  passing  away  ?  Ah,  here  may 
be  the  source  of  direst  terror  and  dismay  in  that 
critical  hour !  What  can  it  be,  but  that  shield  of 
heavenly  temper  with  which  alone  we  can  now 
"quench  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked?"  Faith 
only  can  make  us  fearless  then;  faith  only  can 
repulse  the  enemy  and  proclaim  the  victory.  The 
rod  and  staff  of  the  promise,  grasped  by  a  present 
faith  in  Jesus,  can  vanquish  every  evil  in  the  valley 
and  shadow  of  death.  "  My  flesh  and  my  heart 
faileth,  but  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart,  and  my 
portion  for  ever." 

III.  But  we  advance  to  another  contrast,  between 
faith  and  sight,  essentially  different  from  any  that 
we  have  noticed ;  when  the  scale  is  turned,  and 
faith  is  dropped  in  vision ;  when  the  home  is 
reached,  and  the  talisman  is  laid  by  as  necessary  no 
more ;  when  the  battle  is  ended,  and  the  "  shield"  is 
hung  high  in  the  temple  of  God,  where  we  shall 
endure  as  pillars,  "  to  go  no  more  out."  Here  sight 
and  sense  cannot  be  trusted.  Without  faith  they 
lead  us  to  perdition ;  and  even  with  faith  in  the 
heart,  culturing  and  refining  them  with  experience 
of  grace,  they  cannot  be  trusted.  But  the  day  is 
coming  when  this  miserable  crazy  tenement  of  folly 
and  mistake  shall  stand  a  glorious  and  unerring  me- 
dium, through  which  the  soul  will  for  ever  drink 
blessedness  at  the  fountain  of  life.     Faith  will  then 


A.   T.  M^GILL,  D.  D. 


311 


be  superseded,  as  a  principle  of  walking,  and  cease 
to  shine  as  the  star  in  heaven  ceases  when  the  sun 
is  risen  to  meridian  splendour ;  cease  to  flow  in  "  the 
desire  of  our  soul  to  his  name,  and  the  remembrance 
of  him,"  as  the  majestic  river  ceases  when  its  waters 
mingle  with  the  ocean. 

1.  The  object  of  faith  is  obscure  and  reflected; 
the  object  of  sight  will  be  direct  and  resplendent. 
Now  "  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly."  We  see  not 
the  very  person  of  the  Saviour,  but,  as  it  were,  his 
image  reflected  from  a  mirror ;  and  we  see  not  this 
image  with  a  direct  and  simple  eye,  but,  as  it  were, 
through  many  reflections  in  a  telescope.  The  Word 
of  God  is  not  dark  in  itself;  it  contains  as  bright  a 
manifestation  of  Jehovah  Jesus  as  the  present  con- 
dition of  humanity  could  bear.  Subdued  emotions, 
and  mitigated  transports,  are  all  that  mercy  intends, 
for  the  frailty  on  which  he  looks  from  "  behind  our 
wall,"  and  "  through  the  lattice"  of  means  and  ordi- 
nances. But  in  the  heavenly  vision,  "  we  shall  see 
him  as  he  is,"  admitted  to  his  own  immediate  pre- 
sence, for  ever  "  to  behold  his  glory." 

Incomparably  brighter  is  the  revelation  we  enjoy 
than  that  of  our  fathers,  under  the  cloud  of  Old 
Testament  figures  and  shadows.  In  eager  longing 
for  our  time,  when  "  the  day  would  break,  and  the 
shadows  flee  away,"  how  did  they  rejoice  to  catch 
even  a  glimpse  of  Gospel  resplendence.  Their  time 
was  that  of  the  shadow — ours  is  that  of  the  image ; 
between  the  shadow  and  the  image  there  may  be 
comparison,  but  between  the  image  and  the  substan- 
tial and  present  reality,  there  can  be  none. 

2.  Faith's  object  is  unseen  at  times ;  vision's  ob- 


312  FAITH   AND   SIGHT    CONTRASTED. 

ject  will  be  for  ever  unclouded  before  us.  Between 
the  telescope  and  the  mirror,  the  "star  of  Bethle- 
hem" is  often  hidden  from  our  sight.  "  My  beloved 
had  withdrawn  himself  and  was  gone."  "  Behold, 
I  go  forward,  but  he  is  not  there ;  and  backward,  but 
I  cannot  perceive  him;  on  the  left  hand  where  he 
doth  work,  but  I  cannot  behold  him ;  he  hicleth  him- 
self on  the  right  hand,  that  I  cannot  see  him."  But 
there  "  we  shall  be  ever  with  the  Lord."  "  The  Lord 
shall  be  to  thee  an  everlasting  light,  and  thy  God 
thy  glory."  No  darkness  nor  desertion  can  be  there 
indeed,  where  there  is  "no  need  of  the  sun,  neither 
of  the  moon  to  shine  in  it ;  but  God  doth  lighten  it, 
and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof." 

3.  Faith  itself  is  imperfect  in  its  operations ;  vision 
will  be  perfect  and  complete.  In  the  very  nature 
of  the  thing  there  must  be  imperfection  with  the  use 
of  an  instrument,  whose  materials  are  altogether 
imperfect.  How  much  does  the  exercise  of  faith 
depend  on  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  Christ ;  how 
much  on  the  memory  of  his  promises ;  how  much 
on  diligence  in  spiritual  reflection  and  contempla- 
tion ;  and  how  deplorably  defective  are  all  these,  in 
the  present  life  of  lapse  and  corruption  !  Add  to 
these  the  interruption  of  the  world  and  Satan. 
Even  if  the  object  of  faith  were  ever  before  us,  with 
steady  twinkling,  and  without  a  cloud ;  if  no  film 
of  error  shaded  the  eye,  nor  tremor  of  weakness 
agitated  the  arm ;  and  we  could  hold  the  glass  of 
faith,  in  all  its  realizing  power,  unshaken  by  any  in- 
herent debility  of  our  own ;  yet  would  the  jostle  of 
the  world  and  the  rage  of  hell  turn,  ever  and  anon, 
the  telescope  aside.     But  vision  on  high  will   be 


A.  T.  m'gill,  d.  d.  313 

sound  and  energetic  in  itself,  rich  and  perfect  in 
every  material,  and  for  ever  sustained  by  surround- 
ing influences  there. 

Witness  the  amazing  acuteness  and  perfection  of 
Stephen's  vision,  as  he  was.  just  advancing  to  the 
portals  of  "the  excellent  glory."  One  beam  of  it 
burst  through  the  canopy  of  heaven  and  lighted  on 
his  face,  and  counsellors  of  even  bloodshot  eye  "look- 
ing steadfastly  on  him,  saw  his  face  as  it  had  been 
the  face  of  an  angel."  And  such  was  the  effect  on 
his  own  vision,  of  this  initial  ray  from  the  paradise 
of  God,  that  through  all  the  incalculable  distance 
between  this  earth  and  the  home  of  the  blessed  in 
heaven ;  through  clouds,  through  planets,  through 
suns,  through  depths  of  unfathomable  ether,  his 
piercing  eye  beheld  "the  glory  of  God,  and  Jesus 
standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God!"  If  eyes  of 
mortal  flesh  can  be  empowered  so  by  one  beam  of 
that  celestial  glory,  what  will  not  the  effulgence  of 
noontide  produce  ?  If  eyes  of  mortal  flesh,  by  one 
blink  of  heavenly  vision,  can  descry  at  a  distance 
which  no  tongue  can  tell  and  no  imagination  com- 
pute, ineffable  and  transporting  glory,  what  will  not 
eyes  of  glorified  humanity  discover  when  admitted 
to  the  very  throne  of  God  and  centre  of  its  brilliance? 

4.  Faith  is  slow,  and  gradual,  and  successive,  in 
making  up  the  image  of  her  contemplation ;  sight 
will  comprehend  at  once,  with  glance  of  intuition. 
Here  we  glean  one  lineament  of  Jesus  in  this  chap- 
ter, and  another  in  that,  of  his  holy  Word ;  some- 
times we  see  him  in  the  vision ;  sometimes  in  the 
allegory ;  sometimes  in  the  plain  description.  Some- 
times we  see  him  as  a  prophet,  then  a  priest,  then  a 


314  FAITH   AND   SIGHT    CONTRASTED. 

king;  and  thus,  culling  a  flower  here,  and  another 
there,  one  grace  of  his  person  in  the  Old  Testament 
and  another  in  the  New,  faith  makes  up  her  aggre- 
gate at  length,  and  exclaims  with  delighted  conclu- 
sion, "He  is  altogether  lovely!"  It  could  not  be 
otherwise  at  present.  A  sight  like  that  of  Isaiah, 
in  vision,  of  the  Lord,  "sitting  on  his  throne,  high 
and  lifted  up,"  would  strike  us  down  with  terror; 
"  Woe  is  me,  I  am  undone  !"  Even  the  beloved  dis- 
ciple, who  had  reclined  on  his  bosom  familiarly  in 
the  days  of  his  flesh,  could  not  enjoy  a  glimpse  of 
the  glorified  Redeemer  without  falling  as  dead  at 
his  feet. 

If  all  the  luminaries  in  heaven  were  converged 
into  one  brilliant  centre,  it  would  destroy  these  eyes 
with  its  flood  of  burning  light ;  but  distributed  along 
the  firmament,  in  sun,  moon  and  stars,  we  drink  in 
the  mild  radiance  with  pleasure  wherever  we  direct 
the  eye.  If  all  the  glories  of  Jesus  Christ  were  con- 
verged into  one  direct  and  intense  description,  even 
by  words,  it  would  overwhelm  and  crush  these 
feeble  powers  of  the  soul;  but,  diffused  over  the 
whole  firmament  of  Old  and  New  Testament  Scrip- 
ture, we  survey  with  pleasing  contemplation  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  studded  and  proportioned,  as 
one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory.  But 
the  heavenly  vision  will  scan,  with  steady  rapture, 
all  that  is  bright  in  Jesus,  blended  and  concentered 
in  one  blazing  sea  of  glory. 

5.  Faith,  in  her  highest  exercise  on  earth,  must 
groan,  being  burdened ;  but  sight,  in  her  lowest  range 
of  felicity  in  heaven,  will  shout  with  hallelujahs. 
"In   this   tabernacle   we   groan,  being   burdened." 


A.  T.  m'gill,  d.  d.  315 

When  wings  of  faith  and  love  would  rise  with  fer- 
vor to  the  mount  of  God,  a  leaden  body  drags  them 
down.  This  frame  work  is  too  narrow  for  the  com- 
pass of  faith  when  she  reaches  to  Christ  and  swells 
with  foretaste  of  his  glory.  "  Ourselves  also,  which 
have  the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves 
groan  within  ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to 
Wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body."  As  the  man 
whose  soul  is  fired  with  enthusiastic  zeal  to  read  the 
starry  heavens  must  groan  impatiently,  if  some  low 
vaulted  prison  ever  prevents  him  from  lifting  his 
longest  telescope  on  high ;  so,  and  more,  infinitely, 
groans  the  believer,  when  faith  lies  checked  and  dis- 
appointed in  this  environed  and  contracted  taber- 
nacle. But  the  frame  work  of  immortal  life  will  be 
spacious  and  spiritual  as  its  inmate ;  the  shouts  of 
glory  in  the  highest  will  be  loud,  as  the  conceptions 
of  the  soul  are  grand ;  pure  and  unfailing,  and  inse- 
parable, will  be  the  powers  of  eye,  and  hand,  and 
heart,  when  "we  shall  see  him  as  he  is,"  and  our 
vile  bodies  will  be  "fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious 
body." 

We  learn  from  this  subject  how  ennobling  faith  is, 
and  how  much  dignity  and  excellence  it  stamps  on 
human  nature.  Men  of  the  world  look  on  faith  as 
weakness,  and  fancy  a  disparagement  of  reason  a 
debility  of  intellectual  force,  an  easy,  erring  cre- 
dulity, when  we  speak  of  living  by  faith,  walking, 
and  fighting,  and  dying  by  faith.  But  so  did  not 
the  Spirit  of  inspiration  estimate  the  worth  of  human 
character,  when  beginning  the  notice  of  each  Old 
Testament  worthy,  with  emphatic  mention  of  his 
faith.  Heb.  xi.     So  does  not  common  sense  estimate 


316  FAITH   AND   SIGHT    CONTRASTED. 

the  worth  of  human  character,  when  we  behold  a 
poor,  short  sighted,  trembling  worm  of  the  dust, 
quailing  at  every  change,  deceived  by  every  show, 
blind  to  the  present,  blind  to  the  future,  and  a 
wretched  victim  of  ignoble  sense,  suddenly  stand 
triumphant  over  weakness,  superior  to  time  and 
change,  able  to  value  present  things  as  they  are  and 
future  things  as  they  will  be ;  able  to  comprehend 
eternity  better  than  he  understood  one  day  before. 
Such  a  transformation  is  vastly  more  noble  and 
sublime  than  any  deification  of  man  that  heathen 
idolatry  ever  imagined.  Superstition  never  gave  to 
the  gods  an  attribute  so  godlike  as  the  faith  of  an 
humble  believer.  And  if  we  had  no  other  and  no- 
bler motive,  the  favour  of  God,  to  please  whom  "  with- 
out faith  it  is  impossible,"  peace  of  conscience,  victory 
over  sin  and  Satan,  over  the  world  and  death,  and 
an  everlasting  inheritance  of  glory — all  of  which  are 
sealed  to  the  soul  the  moment  faith  is  in  exercise ; 
if  we  had  none  of  these  unspeakable  benefits,  the 
very  enlargement  of  soul  which  it  brings,  empower- 
ing the  human  mind  to  see  invisible  things,  and 
future  tilings,  and  things  substantially  good,  and 
things  in  all  their  eventful  consequences,  were  motive 
enough  to  impel  men  to  plead  with  God  day  and 
night  that  he  would  "  give  it  to  them,  on  the  behalf 
of  Christ,  to  believe  in  his  name ;"  and  that  he  would 
"  fulfil  in  them  the  good  pleasure  of  his  goodness, 
and  the  work  of  faith  with  power." 

We  learn  again,  from  this  subject,  how  to  test 
religion  in  ourselves  and  others,  most  truly ;  where 
alone  is  the  lively  oracle  which  gives  certain  re- 
sponses on  this    all   important   interest.     Not  our 


A.  T.  m'gill,  d.  d.  317 

frames  and  feelings ;  not  our  present  enjoyments ; 
not  all  our  experience,  past  and  present ;  but  the 
exercise  of  faith  on  Jesus  Christ,  the  reality  and 
power  of  which  are  evinced  by  holy  living.  How 
many  a  precious  hour  of  time  have  we  lost ;  how 
many  a  pang  of  unnecessary  anguish  have  we  felt 
in  standing  upon  bubbles  which  burst,  in  attempting 
to  trace  our  hope  of  glory  on  a  surface  of  excited 
feeling,  which  is  fluctuating  as  the  sands  of  the  sea, 
shifting  as  the  winds  of  heaven.  It  is  true,  indeed, 
that  our  religion  is  one  of  mighty  emotion,  and  no 
man  ever  felt  its  power  without  feeling  the  most 
powerful  of  all  excitement;  and  it  is  equally  true 
that  our  prayers  and  devout  endeavours  must  always 
be  exercised  to  stir  emotion  and  revive  the  power 
of  feeling,  as  well  as  to  learn  its  precious  truths,  and 
unbibe  its  sanctifying  efficacy.  But  let  us  never 
forget,  that  all  excitement  is  spurious  which  is  not 
the  offspring  of  faith,  and  that  all  faith  is  spurious 
which  does  not  vividly  apprehend  the  word  of  God, 
in  its  supreme  authority  and  power ;  that  faith  may 
exist  where  there  is  but  little  outward  manifestation 
of  feeling,  and  that  a  conversation  becoming  the  gos- 
pel is  worth  ten  thousand  gusts  of  delighted  feeling; 
and  no  kind  of  feeling  should  ever  be  cherished  for 
a  moment  which  will  not  correspond  with  the  sober- 
ness of  a  life  of  faith  upon  the  Son  of  God.  Vast 
inequality  in  the  tide  of  religious  emotion  has  done 
more  to  arm  the  power  of  infidelity  in  the  world, 
than  all  the  logic  besides  which  unbelief  could  ever 
command.  "  The  spirit  of  power  and  of  love,"  is 
the  spirit  of  "  a  sound  mind." 

Finally,  we  learn  from  this  subject  to  anticipate 


318  FAITH   AND    SIGHT   CONTRASTED. 

gladly  the  joys  of  that  eternal  world,  where  all  the 
faculties  of  mortal  and  immortal  man,  set  free  from 
frailty  and  sin,  restored  from  the  debasement  of  the 
present  life,  and  the  widowed  sleep  of  a  long  germi- 
nation in  the  grave,  shall  become  not  only  perfect  in 
use,  to  be  honoured  and  trusted  always,  but  immea- 
surably enhanced  in  the  original  adaptation  to  min- 
ister happiness ;  by  a  new  creation  in  Christ  Jesus,  a 
resurrection  through  the  power  of  his  life,  and 
translation  to  the  immediate  presence  of  his  Father 
and  ours.  "  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall 
be."  The  pleasure  of  the  senses,  which  divine 
goodness  spared,  in  some  degree,  from  the  ruins  of 
the  curse,  to  make  the  present  life  a  happy  one  for 
temperance  and  virtue,  must  rise  with  this  identical 
body,  which  will  have  "  slept  in  Jesus,"  not  only  re- 
paired, refined,  exalted,  indestructible ;  not  only 
re-admitted  to  communion  with  God  in  his  direct  and 
constant  manifestation,  but  also  advanced  to  the 
inconceivable  felicity  which  is  implied  in  being 
"  partakers  of  the  divine  nature  ;"  a  destination  of 
superlative  dignity  and  joy,  whose  range  of  perfect 
happiness  must  be  all  that  the  glorious  Creator 
would  confer  on  any  creature. 


CATHOLICITY  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

BY 

CHAS.   HODGE,   D.   D. 

PROFESSOR   IX  THE    THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY,    PRINCETON,  NEW  JERSEY. 


Is  he  God  of  the  Jews  only,  and  not  of  the  Gentiles  also?     Ko- 
mans  iii.  29. 

We  are  so  familiar  with  the  truth  contained  in 
these  words  that  we  do  not  appreciate  its  importance. 
Accustomed  to  the  varied  beauties  of  the  earth,  we 
behold  its  manifold  wonders  without  emotion;  we 
seldom  even  raise  our  eyes  to  look  at  the  gaudeous 
canopy  of  heaven,  which  every  night  is  spread  over 
our  heads.  The  blind,  however,  when  suddenly  re- 
stored to  sight,  behold  with  ecstacy  what  we  regard 
with  indifference.  Thus  the  truth  that  God  is  not 
a  national  God,  not  the  God  of  any  one  tribe  or 
people,  but  the  God  and  Father  of  all  men,  and  that 
the  Gospel  is  designed  and  adapted  to  all  mankind, 
however  little  it  may  affect  us,  filled  the  apostles 
with  astonishment  and  delight.  They  were  slow  in 
arriving  at  the  knowledge  of  this  truth ;  they  had 
no  clear  perception  of  it  until  after  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost ;  the  effusion  of  the  Spirit  which  they  then 
received  produced  a  most  remarkable  change  in 
their  views  and  feelings.     Before  that  event,  they 

(319) 


320 


CATHOLICITY   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 


were  Jews;  afterwards,  they  were  Christians;  be- 
fore, they  applied  all  the  promises  to  their  own  na- 
tion; the  only  Jerusalem  of  which  they  had  any 
idea  was  the  city  where  David  dwelt;  the  only 
temple  of  which  they  could  form  a  conception  was 
that  in  which  they  were  accustomed  to  worship. 
But  when  they  received  the  anointing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  scales  fell  from  their  eyes ;  their  nation 
sank  and  the  Church  rose  on  their  renovated  sight ; 
the  Jerusalem  that  now  is,  disappeared  when  they 
beheld  the  New  Jerusalem  descending  out  of  heaven ; 
the  temple  on  Mount  Zion  was  no  longer  glorious, 
by  reason  of  the  excelling  glory  of  that  temple 
which  is  the  habitation  of  God  by  his  Spirit;  old 
things  passed  away,  all  things  became  new ;  what 
they  had  mistaken  for  the  building  proved  to  be  the 
scaffolding ;  the  sacrifices,  the  incense,  the  pompous 
ritual  of  the  old  economy,  which  they  had  so  long 
regarded  as  the  substance  and  the  end,  were  found 
to  be  but  shadows.  What  was  the  blood  of  bulls 
and  of  goats  to  men  who  had  looked  upon  the  blood 
of  Him  who,  with  an  eternal  Spirit,  offered  himself 
unto  God  ?  What  were  priests  and  Levites  to  the 
great  High  Priest,  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God  ?  What 
was  the  purifying  of  the  flesh  secured  by  the  sprink- 
ling the  ashes  of  a  heifer,  to  the  eternal  redemption 
secured  by  Him  who  is  a  priest  for  ever  after  the 
order  of  Melchizedec  ?  What  was  access  to  the 
outer  court  of  a  temple,  in  which  even  the  symbol 
of  the  divine  presence  was  concealed  by  a  veil,  to 
access  to  God  himself  by  the  Spirit?  What  were 
the  tribes  of  Israel  coming  up  to  Jerusalem,  to  the 
long  procession  of  nations  coming  to  the  New  Jeru- 


CHAS.    HODGE,    D.    D.  321 

salem,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  her  rising ;  the 
multitudes  from  Midi  an  and  Epha ;  they  too  from 
Sheba,  bringing  their  gifts  with  them ;  the  flocks  of 
Kedar  and  the  rams  of  Nebaioth ;  the  sons  of  stran- 
gers and  the  forces  of  the  Gentiles,  hastening  to  that 
city  whose  walls  are  salvation,  and  whose  gates  are 
praise  ? 

This  change  in  the  views  of  the  apostles  seems  to 
have  been  almost  instantaneous.  While  Christ  was 
upon  earth,  they  were  constantly  misapprehending 
his  doctrines ;  even  in  the  night  in  which  he  was 
betrayed,  there  was  a  contention  among  them  who 
should  be  the  greatest  in  his  kingdom.  But  as  soon 
as  they  received  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  they 
ceased  to  speak  and  act  like  Jews,  and  announced  a 
reliaion  for  the  whole  world. 

I.  In  the  general  proposition,  that  the  Gospel  is 
designed  and  adapted  for  all  mankind,  there  are 
several  important  truths  involved.  The  most  com- 
prehensive is  that  contained  in  the  text :  God  is 
the  God  of  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  of  the  Jews.  It 
is  obvious  that  the  Jews  generally,  and  the  apostles, 
as  Jews,  entertained  very  erroneous  views  on  this 
until  they  were  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Ghost; 
they  mistook  even  the  spirit  of  the  old  dispensation. 
It  is  true  that  Jehovah  chose  their  nation  for  a  pe- 
culiar people,  and  that  he  was  their  God  in  a  sense 
in  which  he  was  not  the  God  of  the  heathen.  He 
revealed  himself  to  them  as  he  did  not  unto  the 
world ;  he  instituted  for  them  a  system  of  religious 
observances ;  sent  them  his  prophets  to  declare  his 
will ;  exercised  over  them  a  special  providence,  and 
constituted  them,  in  the  strictest  sense,  a  theocracy. 

22 


322  CATHOLICITY   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

There  was  nothing,  however,  in  the  Old  Testament 
which  justified  the  proud  and  self-righteous  spirit 
which  the  Jews  manifested  towards  the  heathen ; 
they  were  not  authorized  to  look  upon  them  as 
reprobates  shut  out  from  the  hope  of  salvation,  as 
unworthy  of  having  even  the  offer  of  the  true  reli- 
gion made  to  them.  The  surprise  expressed  by  the 
apostles  that  God  had  granted  unto  the  Gentiles  re- 
pentance unto  life,  that  the  gate  of  heaven  was  wide 
enough  to  admit  more  than  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham, shows  how  much  they  had  misconceived  the 
spirit  of  their  own  religion. 

Their  great  mistake,  however,  was  in  supposing 
that  the  exclusive  spirit,  as  far  as  it  did  in  fact  be- 
long to  the  old  economy,  was  meant  to  be  perpetual. 
They  mistook  a  temporary  for  a  permanent  arrange- 
ment, and  supposed  that  the  glory  of  the  theocracy 
under  the  Messiah  involved  nothing  beyond  the  ex- 
altation and  extended  dominion  of  their  own  nation. 
They  W2re  blind  to  the  plainest  declarations  of  their 
own  Scriptures,  which  foretold  that  God  would  pour 
out  his  Spirit  upon  all  flesh ;  that  the  Messiah  was 
to  be  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  to  make  known  the 
salvation  of  God  to  the  ends  of  the  earth ;  and  that 
the  sons  of  the  stranger  were  to  have  in  his  king- 
dom a  name  and  a  place,  better  than  those  of  sons 
and  daughters.  Even  the  affecting  parables  of 
our  Lord,  designed  to  rebuke  the  narrow  spirit  of 
his  disciples,  failed  to  make  any  adequate  impression 
on  their  minds.  Though  they  were  told  that  the 
prodigal  son  was  to  be  restored  to  his  father's  house, 
clothed  with  the  best  robe,  and  rejoiced  over  with 
peculiar  joy,  they  understood  it  not. 


CHAS.    HODGE,    D.    D.  323 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  ancient  Jews  con- 
ceived of  Jehovah  as  a  local  Deity,  confined  in  his 
essence  to  any  one  place,  or  restricted  in  his  autho- 
rity to  any  one  people.  From  the  beginning  they 
had  been  taught  that  he  was  the  Creator  of  all  things ; 
that  he  filled  heaven  and  earth ;  that  he  was  al- 
mighty, doing  his  pleasure  among  the  armies  of 
heaven  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth ;  but  they 
believed  him  to  be  indifferent  to  the  welfare  of 
other  nations  ;  they  did  not  know  that  he  had  pur- 
poses of  mercy  for  the  Gentiles,  as  well  as  for  them- 
selves. When  they  called  Jehovah  their  God,  they 
meant  not  only  that  he  was  the  God  whom  they  ac- 
knowledged, but  that  he  belonged  exclusively  to 
them,  that  they  monopolized  his  favour,  and  were 
the  sole  heirs  of  his  kingdom.  What  Christ  taught 
them  by  his  Word  and  Spirit  was,  that  God  was  as 
favourably  inclined  to  the  Gentiles  as  to  the  Jews ; 
that  the  same  Lord  was  rich  toward  all  who  called 
upon  him ;  that  there  existed  no  reason  in  the  Di- 
vine mind,  why  the  heathen  should  not  be  fellow 
heirs  and  partakers  of  the  grace  of  the  Gospel,  why 
they  might  not  be  fellow  citizens  of  the  saints  and 
of  the  household  of  God.  This  is  what  is  meant, 
when  it  is  said  he  is  the  God  of  the  Gentiles  as 
well  as  of  the  Jews ;  he  stands  in  the  same  general 
relation  to  both ;  he  is  as  favourable  to  the  one  as 
to  the  other ;  as  ready  to  receive  one  as  the  other ; 
as  willing  to  receive  and  save  the  one  as  the  other. 
Christ  came  not  as  the  minister  of  the  circumcision 
only,  but  that  the  Gentiles  might  glorify  God  for  his 
mercy,  as  it  is  written :  Rejoice,  ye  Gentiles,  with 
his  people ;  praise  the  Lord  all  ye  Gentiles,  laud 


324  CATHOLICITY   OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

him  all  ye  j)eople.  This  is  the  ground,  brethren,  on 
which  we  stand.  We  are  in  the  Church,  not  by 
courtesy  of  man ;  not  by  toleration  or  sufferance ; 
not  as  strangers  or  proselytes,  but  as  fellow  citizens 
and  fellow  heirs.  We  that  were  not  beloved,  are 
now  beloved ;  wre  that  were  not  his  people,  are  now 
the  people  of  God,  though  Abraham  be  ignorant  of 
us,  and  though  Israel  acknowledge  us  not.  It  is 
this  glorious  truth,  that  God  is  the  God  of  the  Gentiles, 
that  exjmnds  the  Gospel  and  makes  it  a  religion 
suited  for  the  whole  world.  It  is  no  longer  the  slug- 
gish Jordan  flowing  through  its  narrow  channel,  it 
is  a  sea  of  glory  which  spreads  from  pole  to  pole. 
The  mercy  and.  love  of  God  are  commensurate  with 
his  ubiquity ;  whenever  he  looks  down  on  man  and 
says,  My  children,  they  may  look  up  to  him  and  say, 
Our  Father !  Praise  him,  therefore,  0  ye  Gentiles, 
laud  him,  0  ye  people,  for  Israel's  God  is  our  God 
and  our  Redeemer. 

II.  Again,  the  proposition  that  the  Gospel  is  de- 
signed and  adapted  for  all  mankind,  supposes  the 
spiritual  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom;  that  is,  that 
the  service  which  is  now  required  is  a  spiritual,  in 
opposition  to  a  ritual  and  ceremonial  service ;  that 
the  government  of  that  kingdom  is  a  spiritual  gov- 
ernment, and  that  its  blessings  are  spiritual  bless- 
ings. The  old  economy  was,  from  its  ritual  and 
ceremonial  character,  incapable  of  including  all  na- 
tions. Without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  was  no 
remission,  but  sacrifices  could  be  offered  only  at  Jeru- 
salem ;  there  was  the  temple,  the  priest,  and  the 
altar ;  there  was  the  symbol  of  the  Divine  presence ; 
thither  the  tribes  were  required  to  repair  three  times 


CHAS.    HODGE,    D.    D.  325 

ft  /ery  year.  Innumerable  cases  were  constantly 
occurring,  which  rendered  attendance  at  the  place 
where  God  had  recorded  his  name  absolutely  neces- 
sary. As  the  Jewish  ritual  could  not  be  observed 
out  of  Jerusalem,  it  was  impossible  that  the  whole 
world  should  be  subjected  to  that  form  of  worship. 
Those  who  were  afar  off  were  without  an  offering, 
without  a  priest,  without  access  to  God.  The  lamen- 
tations of  David,  when  absent  from  the  court  of 
God,  his  earnest  longings  after  liberty  of  access  to 
the  place  where  God  revealed  his  glory,  show  how 
intimately  the  happiness  of  the  people  of  God  was 
connected  with  the  services  of  the  sanctuary.  Our 
Lord  announced  a  radical  change  in  the  whole  econo- 
my of  religion,  and  one  which  disenthralled  it  from 
all  these  trammels,  when  he  said  to  the  woman  of 
Samaria,  Woman,  believe  me,  the  hour  cometh  and 
now  is,  when  ye  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at 
Jerusalem,  shall  worship  the  Father;  the  true  wor- 
shippers shall  worship  the  Father  in  Spirit  and  in 
truth,  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship  him. 
God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him,  must 
worship  in  Spirit  and  in  truth.  It  was  here  taught, 
not  only  that  the  worship  of  God  was  no  longer  to 
be  confined  to  any  one  place,  but  also  that  it  was  no 
longer  to  be  ceremonial  but  spiritual.  It  is  no  longer 
necessary  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  in  order  to 
draw  near  to  God,  but  wherever  two  or  three  are 
met  together  in  his  name,  there  is  he  in  the  midst 
of  them.  The  temple,  in  which  his  people  now 
worship,  is  no  longer  a  temple  made  with  hands, 
but  that  spiritual  temple  made  without  hands.  Its 
pillars  rest  on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  and  it 


326  CATHOLICITY   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

surmounts  the  heavens ;  the  southern  African,  the 
northern  Greenlander,  the  innumerable  company  of 
angels,  and  the  general  Assembly  and  Church  of  the 
first  born,  are  all  included  in  its  ample  courts.  The 
sacrifice  which  is  now  offered  is  not  the  blood  of 
bulls  and  of  goats,  but  the  precious  blood  of  Christ, 
as  a  lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
The  incense  which  now  ascends  before  the  throne  of 
God,  comes  not  from  brazen  censers,  but  from  living 
hearts. 

Again,  under  the  old  economy  the  Church  had  a 
visible  head,  who  dwelt  at  Jerusalem,  by  whom  the 
annual  atonement  was  made  for  the  sins  of  the  peo- 
ple. He  was  their  intercessor  before  God ;  the  me- 
dium of  communication  between  God  and  his  people ; 
the  arbiter  and  director  of  the  whole  congregation. 
Those,  therefore,  who  were  at  a  distance  from  the 
High  Priest  were  necessarily  cut  off  from  many  of 
the  most  important  advantages  of  the  theocracy. 
Under  the  Gospel  all  this  is  changed.  The  head  of 
the  Church,  the  High  Priest  of  our  profession  is  no 
longer  a  man  dwelling  in  any  one  city,  but  Jesus, 
the  Son  of  God,  who  by  the  one  offering  up  of  him- 
self hath  for  ever  perfected  them  that  are  sanctified ; 
who  is  every  where  accessible,  every  where  present 
to  guide  and  comfort  his  people,  and  who  ever  lives 
to  make  intercession  for  them.  The  believer  cannot 
be  where  Christ  is  not.  At  any  time  and  in  every 
place  he  may  approach  his  throne,  he  may  embrace 
his  knees  or  wash  his  feet  with  tears,  and  hear  him 
say,  Son,  or  daughter,  be  of  good  cheer,  thy  sins  are 
forgiven  thee. 

Once  more,  as  to  this  point :  the  blessings  which 


CHAS.    HODGE,   D.    D.  327 

the  Gospel  offers  being  spiritual  are  adapted  to  all 
mankind.  The  benefits  connected  with  the  old  econ- 
omy were  in  a  great  measure  external  and  temporal. 
This  idea  the  apostle  expresses  by  saying  its  rites 
could  avail  only  to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh.  Con- 
sidered in  themselves  they  could  do  no  more  than 
secure  for  those  who  observed  them  the  benefits 
of  the  external  theocracy.  Those  who  were  cir- 
cumcised became  members  of  the  Hebrew  com- 
monwealth ;  those  who  kept  the  law,  had  the  pro- 
mise of  fruitful  seasons;  those  who  had  forfeited 
their  right  of  access  to  the  sanctuary,  had  it  restored 
by  offering  a  sacrifice ;  those  who  were  defiled  by 
any  ceremonial  uncleanness,  might  be  purified  within 
the  temple  by  the  officiating  priest.  Apart,  there- 
fore, from  its  reference  to  the  Gospel,  the  blessings 
secured  by  that  dispensation  were  exclusively  of  this 
external  character,  for  it  was  impossible  that  its 
rites  should  take  away  sin.  These  benefits  were 
not  only  of  little  value,  but  they  were  necessarily 
confined  to  a  limited  sphere ;  they  were  incapable 
of  being  extended  to  all  mankind.  How  low  must 
have  been  the  expectations  of  those  who  considered 
the  Messiah's  kingdom  as  nothing  but  an  enlarge- 
ment of  this  system.  How  complete  a  revolution 
must  it  have  produced  in  all  their  views  and  feelings 
to  discover  that  Christ's  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
world ;  that  the  blessings  which  it  promised  were 
not  worldly  prosperity,  not  a  pompous  ritual  or 
splendid  temple,  not  dominion  over  other  nations, 
but  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  the  renewal  of  the  heart, 
reconciliation  with  God  and  eternal  life.  These  are 
blessings,  not  only  of  infinite  value,  but  such  as  are 


328  CATHOLICITY   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

confined  to  no  one  locality.  They  are  not  more 
needed  by  one  set  of  men  than  another ;  they  are 
incapable  of  being  monopolized,  for  they  constitute 
an  inheritance  which  is  rather  increased  than  les- 
sened by  the  number  of  the  heirs.  We  say  then 
that  the  Gospel  dispensation  is  catholic,  or  designed 
for  the  whole  world,  because  it  is  a  spiritual  dispensa- 
tion ;  the  worship  which  it  requires  may  be  as  ac- 
ceptably offered  in  one  place  as  another;  the  head  of 
this  new  covenant  is  every  where  present  and  every 
where  accessible,  and  the  blessings  which  he  confers 
are  suited  to  the  necessities  of  all  mankind. 

III.  Another  point  of  no  less  importance,  is,  that 
the  righteousness  of  Christ,  by  which  these  blessings 
of  pardon,  regeneration  and  eternal  life  are  secured, 
is  such  as  to  lay  an  ample  foundation  for  the  offer 
of  salvation  to  all  men.  This  is  a  jDoint  with  regard 
to  which  the  minds  of  the  apostles  underwent  a 
great  change.  Under  the  old  dispensation,  the  High 
Priest,  as  the  representative  of  the  people,  made  a 
confession  of  their  sins,  imposing  them  on  the  head 
of  the  victim,  and  made  reconciliation  by  sprinkling 
the  blood  upon  the  mercy  seat.  By  that  atonement 
the  sins  of  the  people,  considered  as  committed 
against  the  external  theocracy,  were  forgiven,  and 
the  blessings  of  that  dispensation  were  actually  se- 
cured. It  is  obvious  that  this  was  an  atonement 
limited  in  design  to  that  people,  having  no  reference 
to  any  other  nation.  It  was  limited  also  in  its  value, 
having  no  intrinsic  worth,  but  deriving  all  its  effi- 
cacy from  the  sovereign  appointment.  It  was  also 
limited  in  its  very  nature ;  being  attached  to  a  na- 
tional covenant,  it  was  in  its  nature  available  to 


CHAS.    HODGE,   D.    D.  329 

none  who  were  not  included  in  that  covenant ;  it 
was  a  Jewish  sacrifice,  designed  for  Jews,  belonging 
to  a  covenant  made  with  Jews,  and  securing  blessings 
in  which  other  nations  had  no  concern. 

In  complete  contrast  with  all  this,  we  know,  in 
the  first  place,  that  the  work  of  Christ  was  not 
limited  in  design  to  any  one  nation.  Christ  himself 
said,  he  laid  clown  his  life  for  his  sheep,  and  other 
sheep  he  had  which  were  not  of  that  fold ;  in  this 
sense  it  is  said  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins, 
and  not  for  our  sins  only,  but  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world ;  or,  as  the  same  apostle  expresses  the 
same  truth  in  another  place,  Jesus  died  not  for  that 
nation  only,  but  that  he  should  gather  together  in 
one  the  children  of  God  that  were  scattered  abroad. 

In  the  second  place,  there  is  no  limit  to  be  placed 
to  the  value  of  Christ's  righteousness ;  its  worth  is 
not  to  be  measured  by  the  duration  or  intensity  of 
the  Saviour's  sufferings,  but  by  the  dignity  of  his 
person.  In  contrasting  the  sacrifices  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament with  that  of  the  New,  the  apostle  says  the 
former  were  inefficacious  because  mere  animals  were 
offered ;  that  of  Christ  was  effectual,  once  for  all, 
because  he  offered  up  himself.  It  is  the  nature  of 
the  offering  that  determines  its  value ;  and  as  the 
dignity  of  Christ's  person  is  infinite,  so  is  the  value 
of  his  sacrifice  ;  if  it  suffices  for  the  salvation  of  one 
man,  it  is  sufficient  for  the  salvation  of  all;  it  is 
incapable  of  increase  or  diminution.  The  light  of 
the  sun  is  not  measured  by  the  number  of  those  who 
enjoy  its  brightness ;  millions  can  see  by  it  as  well 
as  a  single  iadividual;  it  is  not  the  less  because 
many  are  affected  by  it,  nor  would  it  be  the  greater 


330  CATHOLICITY   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

though  only  one  enjoyed  it.  So  also  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ  is  in  value  infinite  and  inexhaustible, 
because  it  is  the  righteousness  of  God. 

In  the  third  place,  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is 
in  its  nature  suited  to  all  men.  As  the  annual  pro- 
pitiation under  the  old  dispensation  belonged  to  the 
covenant  formed  with  the  whole  people  of  Israel,  and 
was  in  its  nature  suited  to  all  included  within  that 
covenant;  so  the  righteousness  of  Christ  fulfils  the 
conditions  of  that  covenant  under  which  all  mankind 
are  placed.  He  perfectly  obeyed  the  precepts  and 
endured  the  penalty  of  that  law  by  which  all  man- 
kind are  bound ;  hence  his  righteousness,  being  what 
was  due  from  every  man,  is  in  its  nature  suited  to 
each  and  every  man.  As  the  work  of  Christ,  as 
connected  with  the  covenant  of  grace,  has  special 
reference  to  all  included  in  that  covenant,  and  effec- 
tually secures  their  salvation ;  but  as  in  performing 
the  stipulations  of  that  covenant,  he  fulfilled  the 
conditions  of  the  covenant  of  works  which  all  man- 
kind had  broken,  his  work  is,  in  its  nature,  appli- 
cable to  all  who  are  under  the  covenant  made  with 
Adam. 

Inasmuch,  then,  as  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is 
not  limited  in  the  design  of  God  to  any  one  nation ; 
as  it  is  of  infinite  value ;  and  as  it  is,  in  its  nature, 
equally  applicable  to  all  men,  we  are  authorized  to 
go  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  to  barbarians,  Scythians, 
bond  and  free,  yea,  to  every  creature,  with  the  offer 
of  salvation.  If  any  man  refuses  the  offer,  his  blood 
will  be  upon  his  own  head ;  he  perishes  not  for  want 
of  a  righteousness,  but  because  he  rejects  that  which 
is  of  infinite  value  and  suited  to  all  his  necessities. 


CHAS.    HODGE,    D.  D.  331 

The  gospel,  therefore,  is  not  trarnelled ;  we  can  go 
with  it  round  the  world,  and  announce  to  every  crea- 
ture that  Christ  has  died  the  just  for  the  unjust; 
that  he  has  wrought  out  an  everlasting  righteous- 
ness, which  any  man  may  accept  and  plead  before 
the  throne  of  God. 

IV.  Again,  the  catholic  character  of  the  gospel  is 
apparent  from  its  offering  salvation  on  conditions 
suited  to  all  men.  It  does  not  require  us  to  ascend 
into  heaven,  or  to  go  down  to  the  abyss ;  its  de- 
mands are  simple,  intelligible  and  reasonable;  it 
requires  nothing  peculiar  to  any  sex,  age,  or  class 
of  men ;  it  is  not  a  religion  for  the  rich  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  poor,  or  for  the  poor  in  distinction  from 
the  rich ;  it  is  not  a  system  of  philosophy  intelligible 
only  to  the  learned,  nor  is  it  a  superstition  which 
none  but  the  ignorant  can  embrace.  It  is  truth, 
simple  and  transcendent ;  in  all  that  is  essential,  in- 
telligible to  a  child,  and  yet  the  object  of  admiration 
and  wonder  to  angels.  It  does  not  suspend  our  sal- 
vation on  any  particular  ecclesiastical  connection ; 
it  does  not  require  us  to  decide  between  conflicting 
churches  which  has  the  true  succession ;  nor  does  it 
make  grace  and  salvation  to  depend  on  the  minis- 
tration or  will  of  man ;  it  is  not  the  religion  of  any 
one  sect  or  church,  and  nothing  but  the  wickedness 
can  equal  the  folly  of  the  attempt  to  confine  the 
grace  of  God  to  the  shallow  channel  of  a  particular 
ecclesiastical  organization.  What  the  gospel  de- 
mands is  nigh  thee,  in  thy  heart  and  in  thy  mouth; 
that  is,  the  word  of  faith  which  we  preach,  that  if 
thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  believe  in  thy  heart  that  God  hath  raised  him 


332  CATHOLICITY   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For  with  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with 
the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation.  Here, 
then,  are  terms  of  salvation  which  are  suited  equally 
to  all  men,  the  Jew  and  the  Greek,  the  wise  and  the 
unwise,  the  bond  and  the  free. 

V.  Again,  the  rule  of  life  jDrescribed  by  the  Gos- 
pel is  adapted  to  all  men,  in  every  age  and  in  every 
part  of  the  world ;  it  is  the  great  law  of  love,  which 
commends  itself  to  every  man's  conscience,  and  is 
suited  to  all  the  relations  of  domestic,  social,  and 
political  life.  It  is  a  principle  which  disturbs  nothing 
that  is  good,  which  can  amalgamate  with  nothing 
that  is  wrong,  which  admits  of  being  acted  out  un- 
der all  circumstances,  and  of  accommodating  itself  to 
all  states  of  society,  and  to  all  forms  of  government. 

How  free,  how  catholic,  how  pure,  how  elevated 
is  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  which  reveals  God  as  an 
universal  Father;  which  makes  known  a  religion 
confined  to  no  locality,  burdened  with  no  expensive 
ritual,  conferring  on  those  who  embrace  it,  not 
worldly  distinctions,  but  the  spiritual  blessings  of 
pardon  and  holiness ;  which  reveals  a  righteousness 
sufficient  for  all,  and  suited  for  all ;  which  offers  that 
righteousness  to  all  on  the  simplest  of  all  conditions, 
that  of  sincerely  accepting  it ;  whose  moral  precepts 
and  principles  of  religious  duty,  and  of  ecclesiastical 
organization  admit  of  being  carried  out  with  equal 
purity  and  power,  in  all  ages  and  in  all  parts  of  the 
world. 

1.  The  catholic  character  of  the  Gospel,  which 
we  have  now  been  considering,  affords  one  of  the 
strongest  arguments  for  its  divine  origin.     No  reli- 


CHAS.    HODGE,   D.  D.  333 

gion  can  be  true  which  is  not  suited  to  God  as  its 
author,  and  to  man  for  whom  it  is  intended.  The 
Gospel  is  suited  to  God  because  it  supposes  him  to 
be,  as  he  in  fact  is,  not  a  national  God,  but  the  God 
and  Father  of  all  men ;  and  it  is  suited  to  men  be- 
cause it  meets  not  the  wants  of  any  one  class,  nor 
any  one  class  of  wants,  but  all  the  wants  of  every 
class,  tribe  or  nation.  But  besides  this,  this  catholi- 
city is  the  very  characteristic  which  it  would  be 
most  difficult  to  account  for  on  the  supposition  of 
its  human  origin.  The  apostles  were  Jews,  the  very 
name  for  all  that  is  narrow,  national  and  exclusive ; 
how  could  the  most  enlarged  and  comprehensive 
system  of  religion  owe  its  origin  to  such  men  ?  We 
know  that  the  apostles  retained  much  of  the  nar- 
row and  exclusive  spirit  of  their  countrymen,  as 
long  as  their  Master  was  upon  earth.  When  he  died 
they  were  ready  to  despair,  saying,  We  trusted  it 
had  been  He  who  would  have  redeemed  Israel. 
Even  after  his  resurrection  their  eyes  were  still  but 
half  opened,  for  the  last  question  which  they  put  to 
him  was,  Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  the 
kingdom  unto  Israel  ?  Yet,  a  few  days  afterward, 
these  same  men  began  to  preach  that  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  was  a  spiritual  kingdom,  not  designed 
specially  for  Israel,  but  for  all  mankind.  This  fact 
admits  of  no  other  solution  than  that  recorded  in 
the  Acts,  after  the  apostles  had  received  the  promised 
effusion  of  the  Spirit ;  they  spake  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  making  it  apparent  that  the  Gos- 
pel is  not  the  product  of  Jewish  minds,  but  of  men 
divinely  instructed  and  inspired. 

This  argument  may  be  viewed  in  another  light. 


334  CATHOLICITY    OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

The  revelations  of  God,  as  contained  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, admit  of  being  divided  into  three  portions : 
those  written  before  the  advent  of  Christ ;  those  re- 
ferring to  his  personal  ministry  on  earth  ;  and  those 
written  after  the  effusion  of  the  Spirit,  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost.  In  the  first  portion,  all,  at  first  view, 
is  national  and  exclusive ;  the  prosperity  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  the  exaltation  of  the  Jews  would  seem  to 
be  the  great  subject  of  prophecy  and  promise ;  still 
there  is  a  constant  gleaming  through  of  the  impri- 
soned glory ;  constantly  recurring  intimations  of  a 
spiritual  Jerusalem  and  of  a  spiritual  Israel,  in  whom 
the  glorious  things  spoken  of  Zion  were  to  meet 
their  accomplishment. 

The  personal  instructions  of  our  Saviour  were 
conveyed  mostly  in  parables,  designed  to  correct  the 
misapprehension  and  to  repress  the  false  expecta- 
tions of  his  countrymen,  but  rather  intimating  than 
fully  disclosing  the  nature  of  his  kingdom  and  the 
design  of  his  mission.  The  descent  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  shed  a  flood  of  light  on  the  whole  series  of 
divine  revelations,  back  even  to  the  first  promise 
made  to  our  first  parents ;  it  is  the  clear  exhibition 
of  the  economy  of  redemption,  made  in  the  books 
written  after  the  day  of  Pentecost,  that  enables  us 
to  read  the  outlines  of  the  gospel  in  the  law  and  the 
prophets ;  the  relation  of  these  several  portions  of 
the  Scriptures  to  each  other,  written  at  intervals 
during  the  course  of  fifteen  hundred  years,  shows 
that  the  whole  is  the  work  of  one  omniscient  Spirit; 
and  the  fact  that  the  catholic  spirit  of  the  gospel,  as 
unfolded  in  the  later  books  of  the  New  Testament, 
is  in  apparent  contradiction,  though  real  agreement 


CHAS.    HODGE,   D.    D.  335 

with  the  earlier  portions  of  the  Word  of  God,  is  a 
decisive  proof  that  the  Bible  is  indeed  the  word  of 
God  and  not  the  word  of  man. 

2.  If  the  gospel,  as  has  been  represented,  is  de- 
signed and  suited  for  all  men,  it  is  suited  to  us.  We 
need  the  salvation  which  it  reveals ;  we,  being  des- 
titute of  any  righteousness  of  our  own,  must  accept 
the  righteousness  which  the  gospel  offers,  or  perish 
in  our  sins.  That  righteousness  being  all  that  any 
sinner  needs,  and  being  freely  and  sincerely  offered 
to  all  who  hear  the  Gospel,  we  are  entirely  without 
excuse  if  we  refuse  or  neglect  the  invitations  of 
mercy. 

3.  If  the  gospel  is  suited  to  all  men,  it  should  be 
maintained  wherever  it  is  known,  and  sent  wherever 
it  has  not  yet  been  preached.  This  is  the  inference 
which  the  apostle  draws  from  this  subject.  If  there 
is  no  difference  between  the  Jew  and  Greek ;  if  the 
same  Lord  is  rich  towards  all  who  call  upon  him, 
then  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  all  should  call  upon 
him.  But  how  shall  they  call  on  him  on  whom 
they  have  not  believed  ?  And  how  shall  they  be- 
lieve on  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?  And 
how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher  ?  And  how 
shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent  ?  The  Gospel 
being  suited  to  all  men,  and  being  needed  by  all,  not 
for  their  temporal  well-being,  but  for  their  eternal 
salvation,  woe  is  us  if  we  do  not  make  it  known ;  it 
is  an  inheritance  in  which  we  are  but  joint  heirs 
with  all  mankind,  and  we  cannot  keep  the  know- 
ledge of  this  inheritance  to  ourselves  without  mani- 
fest injustice  and  cruelty. 

Let  us,  then,  endeavour  to  enter  more  fully  into 


od6  CATHOLICITY   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

the  catholic  spirit  of  the  gospel ;  let  us  remember 
that  the  unsearchable  riches  that  are  in  Christ 
Jesus  are  an  inheritance  for  all  the  poor  and  per- 
ishing ;  and  while  we  thankfully  apprehend  those 
riches  for  ourselves,  let  us  labour  that  they  may  be 
made  accessible  to  all  mankind. 


CHRISTIAN    SUBMISSION. 


H.    A.   BOARDMAN,   D.   D. 

PASTOR   OF   THE    TENTH   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    PHILADELPHIA. 


It  is  the  Lord ;  let  him  do  what  seemeth  him  good. — 1  Sam.  iii.  18. 

In  this  life  we  are  sanctified  but  in  part.  The 
best  of  men  have  their  infirmities.  Even  the  most 
symmetrical  and  shining  characters  disclose,  in  one 
form  or  another,  the  imperfection  which  attaches  to 
all  things  human.  The  case  is  still  stronger  than 
this.  Eminent  virtues  are  often  associated  with  sig- 
nal blemishes.  Individuals  conspicuous  for  certain 
Christian  graces,  are  scarcely  less  conspicuous  for 
grievous  defects.  The  venerable  Eli  was  an  exam- 
ple. He  was  the  High  Priest  of  Israel.  From  the 
brief  sketch  we  have  of  his  history  he  would  seem  to 
have  been  a  sincere,  humble,  devout  man — attentive 
to  his  official  engagements,  and  truly  concerned  for 
the  welfare  of  the  peojole,  and  the  honour  of  their 
Divine  king.  But  in  one  department  of  duty  Eli 
was  culpably  remiss — he  had  no  family  government. 
His  two  sons,  his  assistants  in  the  temple-rites,  were 
profligate  young  men,  whose  conduct  brought  a  great 
scandal  upon  religion — and  yet  he  tolerated  it.  He 
reproved  them,  it  is  true,  but  in  so  mild  a  form  that 

23  (337) 


338  CHRISTIAN    SUBMISSION". 

it  produced  no  effect  upon  them — precisely,  indeed, 
as  many  parents  in  our  own  day  deal  with  the  delin- 
quencies of  children  whom  they  have,  by  their  mis- 
placed indulgence,  trained  to  respect  their  authority 
only  so  far  as  it  may  suit  their  convenience.  After 
repeated  warnings  had  been  given  to  no  purpose,  God 
at  length  informs  the  aged  and  erring  priest  that  he 
had  determined  to  destroy  his  sons,  and  to  transfer 
the  priesthood  to  another  family — "  I  have  sworn 
unto  the  house  of  Eli  that  the  iniquity  of  Eli's  house 
shall  not  be  purged  with  sacrifice  nor  offering  for 
ever."  This  threatening  was  first  made  known  to 
"  the  child  Samuel,"  who  communicated  it  to  Eli 
only  after  he  had  been  solemnly  adjured  to  do  it. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  more  appalling 
message  to  the  heart  of  a  pious  father.  To  such  a 
father,  the  announcement  that  a  child  was  to  be 
struck  down  by  a  sudden  death,  must,  under  any 
circumstances,  be  very  afflictive ;  but  to  be  told  that 
two  of  his  sons — sons,  not  in  their  infancy  or  child- 
hood, but  grown  up  to  manhood — sons  who  had  be- 
come notorious  for  their  wickedness,  and  who  neither 
had,  nor  were  likely  to  have,  the  slightest  prepara- 
tion for  death — that  God  had  resolved,  as  well  for 
his  sin  in  not  restraining  them  as  for  their  own 
crimes,  to  cut  off  these  sons  by  some  terrible  judg- 
ment which  should  "  make  the  ears  of  every  one 
that  heard  it  to  tingle" — to  be  told  this  must  have 
been  overwhelming.  How  does  the  unhappy  old 
man  receive  it  ?  "  It  is  the  Lord  ;  Jet  h  im  do  what 
seemeth  him  good  /"  Such  was  his  answer — his  whole 
answer ;  not  another  word  escaped  him.  Wonderful 
submission !     Wonderful  illustration  of  the  efficacy 


H.    A.    BOARDMAN,    D.    D.  339 

of  Divine  grace  in  controlling  the  strongest  affections  of 
the  human  heart,  and  subduing  man's  rebellious  will 
into  an  unrepining  acquiescence  in  the  will  of  God ! 

It  behooves  us  all  to  know  something  of  this  rare 
endowment.  We,  too,  may  have  occasion  to  say, 
"  It  is  the  Lord ;  let  him  do  what  seemeth  him 
good."     My  subject,  then,  is  Christian  submission. 

To  discuss  it  in  detail  is  not  my  aim.  All  I  pro- 
pose is,  to  specify  some  of  the  chief  elements  which 
enter  into  it. 

1.    Christian  submission  excludes  murmuring. 

This  proposition  is  self-evident,  but  the  thought 
deserves  to  be  dwelt  upon. 

It  is  natural  to  murmur  under  afflictions  and 
losses.  The  voice  of  nature — that  is,  of  our  fallen 
nature — is  not  the  voice  of  God,  but  contrary  to  it. 
It  is  as  natural  for  us  to  murmur,  when  deprived  of 
what  we  love,  or  disappointed  in  our  hopes,  as  for 
holy  beings  to  submit  promptly  and  cheerfully  to 
the  Divine  will.  We  are  apt  to  feel  that  what  we 
have  is  our  own  unconditionally;  that  when  we 
have  framed  and  prosecuted  our  plans  with  great 
prudence  and  energy,  we  are  entitled  to  success; 
that  when  we  have  accumulated  a  fortune,  we  have 
an  implicit  right  to  keep  it ;  that  when  we  have  col- 
lected the  varied  means  and  appliances  of  an  elegant 
and  graceful  life,  we  ought  to  be  permitted,  for  a 
period  at  least,  to  enjoy  them ;  that  when  we  are 
surrounded  with  a  healthful  and  happy  family,  strong 
in  each  others'  affections,  and  rejoicing  in  each  others' 
companionship,  no  power  may  lawfully  invade  the 
charmed  circle  to  strike  down  even  the  humblest  or 
the  feeblest  of  its  loved  ones.     And  if,  in  any  of 


340  CHRISTIAN    SUBMISSION. 

these  eases,  disappointment,  bankruptcy,  death,  ac- 
tually comes,  the  perverted  instincts  of  the  heart 
spring  up  in  rebellion  against  God.  I  say  "  against 
God ;"  but  the  quarrel  is,  for  the  most  part,  not  with 
him  directly ;  fear  prevents  this.  We  dare  not  ''curse 
God;"  we  deal  with  his  instruments.  Upon  these 
the  lacerated  heart  pours  out  its  resentments ;  these 
it  charges  with  injustice  or  cruelty. 

It  is  not  asserted  that  this  is  always  done ;  far 
from  it.  But  this  is  the  native  tendency  of  the  heart, 
a  tendency  to  set  up  its  own  will  against  God's  will, 
to  question  his  sovereignty,  to  cavil  at  his  dispensa- 
tions, to  complain  that  "  his  ways  are  not  equal," 
and  that  he  afflicts  us  more  than  we  deserve.  That 
this  disposition  does  not  uniformly  disclose  itself  is 
easily  accounted  for.  In  many  it  has  ceased  to  exist. 
Nature  has  given  place  to  a  new  nature  .  Grace  has 
changed  the  lion  into  a  lamb.  Instead  of  saying, 
"  Who  is  the  Lord  that  I  should  obey  his  voice  ?" 
the  feeling  is,  "  Not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt !"  In 
other  cases  the  tendency  to  murmur  is  held  in  check 
by  prudential  considerations,  such  as  the  dread  of 
fresh  inflictions,  and  the  like.  But  in  too  many  in- 
stances it  breaks  forth  in  impious  complaints,  or  in 
impatient  struggles  to  escape  from  the  pressure  of 
God's  chastising  hand.  Wicked  men,  by  their  toss- 
ings  and  murmurings  in  affliction,  often  verify  that 
striking  image  of  the  "troubled  sea  when  it  cannot 
rest,  whose  waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt." 

It  is  too  evident  to  admit  of  argument,  that  this 
spirit  is  incompatible  with  the  temper  inspired  by 
the  gospel ;  in  other  words,  that  Christian  submis- 
sion excludes  murmuring. 


H.    A.    BOARDMAN,   D.    D.  341 

2.  It  excludes  repining. 

Under  great  trials,  it  is  no  less  natural  to  repine 
than  to  murmur.  The  heart  sinks  into  despondency. 
The  feeling  is,  "  This  affliction  must  crush  me — 
God  has  forgotten  to  be  gracious;  He  has  deter- 
mined, as  a  just  punishment  for  my  sins,  to  destroy 
me  utterly."  Or  the  feeling  is,  "  Now  that  this  ca- 
lamity has  befallen  me,  life  is  stripped  of  its  sweetest 
charm;  the  world  is  a  dreary  void;  all  that  re- 
mains to  me  is  valueless ;  there  is  nothing  left  worth 
living  for."  And  thus  the  oppressed  soul  gives  itself 
up  to  the  sway  of  sorrow,  nurses  its  grief,  and  re- 
fuses to  be  comforted.  So  the  Israelites,  when  pent 
up  between  the  Egyptians  and  the  sea,  giving  up  all 
for  lost,  cried  to  Moses  and  said,  "Because  there 
were  no  graves  in  Egypt,  hast  thou  taken  us  away 
to  die  in  the  wilderness  ?"  And  the  prophet,  in  be- 
wailing his  own  trials  with  those  of  his  nation  in  the 
captivity,  "He  hath  led  me  and  brought  me  into 
darkness,  but  not  into  light.  My  flesh  and  my  skin 
hath  he  made  old ;  he  hath  broken  my  bones.  He 
hath  builded  against  me  and  compassed  me  with 
gall  and  travail.  He  hath  set  me  in  dark  places,  as 
they  that  be  dead  of  old.  He  hath  hedged  me  about 
that  I  cannot  get  out;  he  hath  made  my  chain 
heavy.  Also,  when  I  cry  and  shout,  he  shutteth 
out  my  prayer.  He  hath  enclosed  my  ways  with 
hewn  stone ;  he  hath  made  my  paths  crooked.  He 
was  unto  me  as  a  bear  lying  in  wait,  and  as  a  lion 
in  secret  places.  He  hath  turned  aside  my  ways 
and  pulled  me  in  pieces ;  he  hath  made  me  deso- 
late. .  .  He  hath  filled  me  with  bitterness,  he  hath 
made  me  drunken  with  wormwood.  .  .  And  I  said, 


342  CHRISTIAN    SUBMISSION. 

'My  strength  and  my  hope  is  perished  from  the 
Lord ;  remembering  mine  affliction  and  my  misery, 
the  wormwood  and  the  gall.'"  (Lam.  hi.  1 — 19.) 
In  strains  like  these,  even  the  believer  will  some- 
times bemoan  his  miserable  condition  when  under 
the  rod  of  chastisement.  The  prophet,  it  is  true, 
did  not  pause  here ;  hope  was  blended  with  his 
deepest  anguish,  and  he  emerges  from  this  thick 
gloom  of  despondency  exclaiming,  "The  Lord  is  my 
portion,  saith  my  soul,  therefore  will  I  hope  in  him." 
It  is  the  surrender  of  the  heart  to  despondency — a 
self-abandonment  to  repining  and  hopelessness — of 
which  I  speak  in  saying  that  it  is  excluded  from  the 
elements  of  Christian  submission ;  for  this  is  to 
"  faint  when  we  are  rebuked"  of  God ;  it  is  to  dis- 
trust his  faithfulness  or  his  power ;  to  interpret  his 
dispensations  by  "feeble  sense;"  to  assume  that  he 
has  "turned  against  us  to  be  our  enemy,"  simply  be- 
cause he  has  visited  us  with  peculiar  trials,  when 
his  word  every  where  makes  such  allotments  a 
pledge  of  his  love  and  a  signature  of  discipleship 
Christian  submission  excludes  repining. 

3.  It  excludes  insensibility. 

Here,  perhaps,  more  persons  fail  than  in  either  of 
the  particulars  already  specified.  They  suppose 
themselves  to  be  exercising  submission  to  the  Divine 
will,  when  they  are  simply  indifferent  to  his  chas- 
tisements. There  can  be  no  genuine  submission 
where  there  is  no  sensibility.  It  seems  but  a  mockery 
of  God  to  exclaim,  "  Thy  will  be  done  !"  where  the 
event  which  elicits  the  sentiment  involves  no  trial, 
and  is  felt  to  be  no  affliction.  We  may  conceive  of 
a  case  in  which  the  conflagration  of  a  man's  ware- 


H.    A.    BOARDMAN,   D.   D.  343 

house  would  augment  his  property  to  a  degree  that 
he  would  sooner  it  should  burn  up  than  not ;  or  of 
a  case  in  which  parents  were  so  destitute  of  natural 
affection  that,  on  mere  pecuniary  grounds,  they 
would  rather  a  child  should  die  than  live ;  and  in 
examples  of  this  sort  the  parties,  unless  they  were 
playing  the  hypocrite,  would  manifest  no  sorrow 
under  their  "  losses ;"  but  who  would  think  of  call- 
ing this  "  Christian  submission  ?" 

So  far,  indeed,  is  this  apathy  under  afflictive  dis- 
pensations from  belonging  to  the  nature  of  submis- 
sion, that  the  Scriptures  hold  it  up  as  a  grievous  sin. 
Afflictions  have  a  voice,  and  we  have  no  right  to 
shut  our  ears  against  it.  They  are  designed  to  make 
us  feel,  and  if  we  do  not  feel  when  Ave  are  smitten, 
we  "despise  the  chastening  of  the  Lord."  It  was 
one  of  the  characteristic  sins  of  Israel,  that  they 
would  not  "  regard  the  works  of  the  Lord,  nor  the 
operations  of  his  hands,"  and  he  threatened,  there- 
fore, to  destroy  them.  (Psalm  xxviii.  5.)  "  Thou 
hast  stricken  them,"  says  the  prophet,  "but  they 
have  not  grieved;  thou  hast  consumed  them,  but 
they  have  refused  to  receive  correction."  (Jer.  v.  3.) 
A  child  that  remains  unconcerned  under  parental 
chastisement,  who  takes  the  reproof  in  a  sort  of 
stoical  silence,  which,  being  interpreted,  means,  "  I 
care  nothing  about  your  displeasure,  and  you  may 
punish  me  or  not,  as  you  see  fit" — such  a  child  is 
already  hardened  in  sin.  To  characterize  his  indif- 
ference as  filial  submission,  would  be  a  flagrant  per- 
version of  terms,  since  this  pretended  u  submission" 
would  really  have  in  it  the  essence  of  filial  impiety. 
What  better  can  be  said  in  behalf  of  that  "  resigna- 


344  CnKISTIAN    SUBMISSION. 

tion"  to  the  will  of  Providence,  which  resigns  nothing, 
which  parts  with  nothing  it  would  not  sooner  part 
with  than  retain,  which  makes  no  sacrifice,  is  con- 
scious of  no  loss,  misses  none  of  its  customary  plea- 
sures, feels  no  aching  void,  and  looks  out  upon  a 
world  as  bright  and  joyous  as  ever?  Can  this  be 
"submission?"  No,  my  brethren.  The  heart  must 
be  cleft  before  this  divine  virtue  can  flow  out.  These 
strong  affections  and  gentle  sympathies  must  be 
crushed  before  they  can  give  forth  the  savour  of 
true  resignation.  These  stubborn  wills  must  wage  a 
stern  conflict  with  the  hand  that  is  stretched  forth 
against  them,  before  they  can  say  in  the  spirit  of 
the  Gospel,  "It  is  the  Lord,  let  him  do  what  seemeth 
him  good." — Christian  submission  excludes  insensi- 
bility. 

4.  It  includes  a  reverential  acknowledgment  of 
God's  hand  in  the  afflictive  dispensation. 

Nature  and  unbelief  eye  second  causes;  faith 
fastens  its  eye  upon  the  great  First  Cause.  It  is  not 
meant  by  this  that  it  is  wrong  to  contemplate  second 
causes ;  they  make  up  a  great  part  of  the  book  of 
Providence,  and  we  not  only  may  but  must  study 
them.  But  to  stop  at  second  causes  is  to  exclude 
Providence.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  his 
agency  is  concerned,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  all 
events,  afflictive  or  otherwise.  "  Is  there  evil  in  the 
city  and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  it  ?"  "  I  kill  and  I 
make  alive ;  I  wound  and  I  heal."  When  Job's 
flocks  and  children  were  swept  away,  he  does  not 
regard  the  tempest,  the  Chaldeans,  and  the  Sabeans, 
the  instruments  of  his  calamities;  if  he  had,  he 
might   have   murmured.      But   he    looked   beyond 


H.    A.    BOARDMAN,    D.   D.  345 

these,  and  in  the  spirit  of  true  submission  exclaimed, 
"  The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away ; 
and  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord."  So,  too,  with 
the  venerable  Naomi,  when  she  returned  to  her  na- 
tive town  from  her  sojourn  in  Moab,  a  desolate  and  * 
impoverished  widow,  and  the  citizens  gathered 
around  her,  and  said  one  to  another,  with  mingled 
surprise  and  sympathy,  "Is  this  Naomi?"  "Call 
me  not  Naomi,"  she  replied,  "  call  me  Mara ;  for  the 
Almighty  hath  dealt  very  bitterly  with  me.  I  went 
out  full,  and  the  Lord  hath  brought  me  home  again 
empty ;  why  then  call  ye  me  Naomi,  seeing  the 
Lord  hath  testified  against  me,  and  the  Almighty 
hath  afflicted  me  ?"  To  her  view,  all  her  afflictions 
spoke  of  God,  and  they  were  submissively  to  be  re- 
ferred to  his  providence.  There  can  be  no  genuine 
submission  without  this  feeling.  Nor  is  it  enough  to 
acknowledge  his  agency  in  the  event  simply.  He 
orders  as  well  the  minutest  circumstances  of  our 
trials  as  the  trials  themselves.  In  these  circum- 
stances, there  is  frequently  much  to  harass  the  feel- 
ings. "  We  could  have  borne  the  stroke,  (so  we  are 
apt  to  ruminate  upon  it,)  had  it  been  ordered  thus 
and  so ;  had  this  thing  been  done  or  that  left  un- 
done ;  could  we  only  have  known  beforehand  that 
the  blow  was  about  to  Ml ;  could  we  have  attempted 
by  such  or  such  expedients  to  avert  it ;  or,  failing  in 
this,  could  we  at  least  have  had  the  melancholy 
satisfaction  of  seeing  it  fall,  it  would  have  been  less 
insupportable."  So  we  reason ;  but  how  unwisely  ! 
with  what  unbelief!  Does  God  notice  the  falling 
sparrow ;  has  he  numbered  the  hairs  of  our  heads ; 
and  does  he  overlook  any,  the  most  trivial  incident 


346  CHRISTIAN    SUBMISSION. 

in  the  afflictions  of  his  creatures,  and  especially  of 
his  own  children  ?  Let  us  check  these  fond  sugges- 
tions of  flesh  and  blood,  and  say  of  every  circum- 
stance, however  slight,  in  the  dispensations  of  his 
hand,  "  It  is  the  Lord ;  let  him  do  what  seemeth 
him  good." 

5.  It  includes  a  conviction  of  his  perfect  right  to  do 
what  he  has  done. 

The  Christian,  under  the  influence  of  genuine  sub- 
mission, contemplates  God  as  the  universal  Creator 
and  Proprietor ;  as  having  a  right,  underived  and 
unconditional,  save  as  the  exercise  of  it  may  be 
limited  by  his  own  infinite  perfections,  to  dispose  of 
any  and  all  creatures,  as  may  seem  good  in  his 
sight.  Ascribing  to  him  an  unrestricted  sovereignty 
over  every  department  of  human  affairs,  he  feels  that 
he  may,  without  trenching  upon  any  real  or  imagi- 
nary "  rights"  on  the  part  of  his  creatures,  deal  with 
them  in  the  manner  best  adapted  to  promote  his 
own  glory.  If  he  chooses  to  send  poverty,  sickness, 
pestilence,  domestic  troubles,  mental  disquietude, 
bereavements,  or  trials  of  other  kinds,  faith  will  vin- 
dicate the  equity  of  the  procedure  even  while  the 
heart  is  bleeding  at  every  pore,  and  will  ask,  "  Shall 
not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?"  I  do  not 
say  that  this  will  in  every  case  be  done  without  a 
struggle ;  nature  is  nature  still,  though  sanctified. 
And  sometimes  the  freshets  of  affliction  burst  so  ab- 
ruptly upon  the  soul,  and  pour  themselves  over  it 
with  such  irresistible  fury,  that  faith  is  for  the  time 
well-nigh  severed  from  the  rock,  and  hope's  anchor 
drags  from  its  fastening  within  the  vail,  and  de- 
struction seems  inevitable.     But  presently  that  voice 


H.    A.    BOARDMAN,    D.    D.  347 

which  said  to  the  raging  Gennesareth,  "Peace,  be 
still !"  goes  out  over  the  tempestuous  flood,  and  the 
alarmed  and  desponding  soul  again  lifts  up  a  tearful 
but  confiding  eye  to  heaven,  and  cries,  "  Father,  thy 
will  be  done  !"  Only  let  the  believer  realize  that  it 
is  God  who  is  dealing  with  him,  and  he  is  satisfied 
that  all  his  allotments  are  ordered  in  righteousness 
and  equity.  He  needs  no  argument  to  convince  him 
that  even  where  "clouds  and  darkness  are  round 
about  Him,  righteousness  and  judgment  are  the 
habitation  of  His  throne."  Nor  is  this  all.  Submis- 
sion not  only  has  respect  to  God's  perfect  right  to 
do  what  he  has  done,  and  to  the  righteousness  of 
his  dispensations,  but, 

6.  It  includes  an  assurance  of  His  wisdom,  faith- 
fulness, and  love,  in  the  affliction  he  has  sent. 

It  was  a  common  sentiment  among  the  ancient 
heathen,  that  great  trials  marked  a  man  as  an  object 
of  the  Divine  displeasure.  Job's  friends  interpreted 
his  afflictions  in  the  same  way.  The  Christian  has 
been  taught  differently.  He  knows  that  affliction 
has  ever  been  a  part  of  the  heritage  of  the  saints. 
"  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation."  "  If  ye  be 
without  chastisement,  then  are  ye  bastards  and  not 
sons."  It  is  the  specific  reason  assigned  for  the  pun- 
ishments inflicted  upon  Israel,  that  they  were  God's 
children.  "  You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the  fami- 
lies of  the  earth,  therefore  will  I  punish  you  for  all 
your  iniquities."  And  herein  he  has  reference,  not 
simply  to  their  aggravated  guilt  and  consequent 
desert  of  punishment,  but  also  to  the  benefits  they 
might  derive  from  his  inflictions.  They  were  his 
own  people,  and  therefore  instead  of  allowing  them 


348  CHRISTIAN    SUBMISSION. 

to  sin  with  impunity  until  their  cup  was  full,  he 
would  chastise  them  and  bring  them  to  repentance. 
"  When  we  are  judged  we  are  chastened  of  the  Lord, 
that  we  should  not  be  condemned  with  the  world." 

This  view  of  affliction  puts  another  aspect  upon 
it.  To  the  eye  of  sense  it  is  frowning  and  terrific ; 
it  speaks  of  vengeance ;  it  forebodes  destruction.  But 
faith  takes  the  soul  up  to  the  throne,  and  unveils  the 
other  phase  of  the  dispensation — that  which  is  averted 
from  our  mortal  eyes,  and  of  which  flesh  and  sense 
can  form  no  conception.  Then  it  is  seen  that  the 
rod  is  held  by  a  Father's  hand ;  that  it  is  he  who  has 
cast  his  child  into  the  furnace,  and  that  his  bosom 
yearns  over  him  with  all  the  love  and  tenderness 
which  a  fond  father  feels  towards  a  son  whom  he  is 
constrained  to  punish  for  his  faults.  He  may  not 
be  apprised  of  all  the  grounds  and  motives  of  the 
infliction,  but  he  will  at  least  be  conscious  that  he 
deserves  chastisement.  "  I  know,  0  Lord,  that 
thy  judgments  are  right,  and  that  thou  in  faithful- 
ness hast  afflicted  me."  Such  is  the  language  of  true 
submission.  God  has  engaged  to  perfect  his  work 
in  the  hearts  of  his  people,  to  withhold  no  good  thing 
from  them,  to  do  for  them  whatever  may  be  re- 
quisite, not  for  their  present  ease,  but  for  their  sanc- 
tification  and  meetness  for  heaven.  The  rod  is  too 
valuable  an  implement  in  carrying  forward  this 
process  to  be  neglected.  If  he  consulted  simply  the 
feelings  of  his  children,  he  would  seldom  resort  to 
chastisement — for  what  child  will  ask  to  be  chas- 
tised ?  Or,  if  his  affection  for  them  partook  of  the 
infirmity  which  so  often  attaches  to  parental  affec- 
tion among  men,  he  might  suffer  their  sins  to  go  un- 


H.    A.    BOARDMAN,   D.    D.  349 

reproved ;  but  he  is  a  faithful  and  covenant-keeping 
God.  No  mistaken  tenderness  will  ever  lead  him 
to  withhold  the  chastisement  which  is  essential  to 
his  people's  happiness.  He  loves  them  too  well  and 
too  wisely  not  to  let  them  drink  sometimes  of  the 
cup  of  sorrow. 

The  Christian  is  not  often  left  without  adequate 
evidence  that  his  afflictions  are  ordered  in  wisdom 
and  faithfulness.  One  of  the  first  effects  of  affliction 
is  to  drive  him  to  self-examination.  Communing 
with  his  own  heart,  and  reviewing  his  life,  he  will 
usually  find  abundant  indications  of  infirmity  and 
sin.  He  has,  perhaps,  been  the  slave  of  pride  or  of 
sensuality  ;  he  has  cherished  an  irascible  and  vin- 
dictive temper ;  he  has  pursued  his  secular  business 
with  an  avidity  which  has  left  no  time  for  his  soul 
and  for  God ;  he  has  floated  far  away  from  his  true 
anchorage,  on  the  current  of  worldly  fashion  and 
frivolity;  he  has  grown  remiss  in  watchfulness  and 
prayer;  he  has  undervalued  and  neglected  the 
means  of  grace ;  he  has  failed  to  rjrofit  by  former 
chastisements ;  and  by  these  or  other  sins  and 
omissions,  he  has  declined  in  spirituality,  and  lost 
much  of  his  enjoyment  in  religion,  and  surrendered 
his  soul  to  barrenness.  With  these  impressions  of 
his  own  unfaithfulness  and  criminality,  he  will  see 
how  wisely,  as  well  as  how  mercifully,  his  afflictions 
are  adapted  to  break  up  his  delusive  slumber,  recover 
him  from  his  declension,  and  bring  him  back  where 
the  light  of  God's  countenance  will  once  more  shine 
upon  him. 

And  even  when  the  affliction  may  be  of  such  a 
nature  that  the  grounds  of  it  are  not  readily  de 


350  CHRISTIAN   SUBMISSION. 

tected,  when  it  consists  in  one  of  those  awful  dis- 
plays of  his  sovereignty  with  which  God  sometimes 
startles  and  confounds  his  creatures,  even  then  the 
Christian  will  struggle  against  the  doubts  and  terrors 
with  which  unbelief  would  overwhelm  him,  and  bow 
to  the  rod  which  smites  him,  with  the  feeling — 

"  God  is  his  own  interpreter, 
And  he  will  make  it  plain." 

7.  Finally,  Christian  submission  properly  includes 
a  desire  and  determination  to  profit  by  the  affliction. 

This  is  an  indispensable  test  of  its  sincerity. 
There  can  be  no  genuine  submission,  without  an 
earnest  desire  to  have  the  lessons  the  affliction  is 
fitted  to  suggest,  written  upon  the  heart  and  carried 
out  into  the  life.  It  is  not  for  his  own  pleasure  that 
God  afflicts  his  people ;  it  is  from  no  caprice  or  cru- 
elty; but  "for  their  profit."  It  is  that  they  may  be- 
come "partakers  of  his  holiness,"  and  be  assimilated 
to  Christ  their  Head.  When  we  say,  therefore, 
"  Thy  will  be  done !"  it  is  not  a  bare  acquiescence 
in  the  trial ;  it  is  a  prayer  that  the  gracious  ends  he 
proposes  to  effect  by  the  stroke  may  be  accom- 
plished ;  a  prayer  that  it  may  be  so  sanctified  as  to 
yield  to  us  the  "peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness." 
To  secure  this  result  should  be  the  great  concern  of 
the  afflicted.  The  remark  is  as  just  as  it  is  com- 
mon, that  trials  do  not  leave  us  as  they  find  us ; 
they  either  harden  our  hearts  or  mollify  them ;  they 
are  either  a  blessing  or  a  curse.  The  Christian  is, 
or  should  be,  too  well  aware  of  this,  not  to  tremble 
at  the  thought  of  misimproving  his  afflictions.  God 
has  come  very  near  to  him ;  he  is  waiting  to  see  the 


H.    A.    BOARDMAN,    D.    D.  351 

effect  of  his  dispensations.  How  solemn,  how  criti- 
cal a  season  is  it  in  the  history  of  that  stricken  Chris- 
tian ;  how  closely  connected  with  his  peace  and  use- 
fulness ;  how  vital  in  its  bearings  upon  his  whole 
future  career !  He  sees  this.  He  feels  it.  With  a  holy 
jealousy  he  watches  over  himself.  He  studies  the 
Scriptures  with  renewed  diligence.  He  pours  out 
his  soul,  day  by  day,  in  fervent  supplications  for 
wisdom,  strength,  deliverance  from  sin,  and  in- 
creasing holiness.  And  he  addresses  himself  with 
vigour  and  alacrity  to  the  duties  of  his  station,  re- 
solved, with  the  help  of  God,  to  live  henceforth  for 
Him  who  has  loved  him  and  died  to  redeem  him. 

Such  is  an  imperfect  account  of  Christian  submis- 
sion. Imperfect  as  the  delineation  is,  it  will  readily 
occur  to  you,  that  it  is  a  virtue  of  rare  excellence 
and  of  most  difficult  attainment.  That  which  con- 
stitutes its  excellence,  reveals  the  reason  why  it  is 
so  difficult  of  attainment,  viz.,  its  contrariety  to  our 
natural  character.  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me, 
let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  fol- 
low me."  True  religion  consists  much  in  self-cruci- 
fixion, and  self-crucifixion  belongs  to  the  essence  of 
Christian  submission. 

To  inculcate  this  virtue  is  easy ;  to  practise  it 
exceeds  our  unassisted  powers.  Blessed  be  God  for 
the  promise,  "  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,  for  my 
strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness."  "  The  things 
which  are  impossible  with  men  are  possible  with 
God."  But  for  the  "everlasting  arms,"  his  people 
would  faint  and  die  under  the  calamities  of  life ;  but 
he  upholds  them.  "  They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord 
shall  renew  their  strength ;  they  shall  mount  up  on 


352  CHRISTIAN    SUBMISSION. 

wings  as  eagles ;  they  shall  run  and  not  be  weary, 
they  shall  walk  and  not  faint." 

There  are  few  amongst  us  who  have  not  tested 
the  truth  of  these  Divine  promises ;  who  have  not 
been  called,  in  one  way  or  another,  to  say,  "  It  is  the 
Lord,  let  him  do  what  seemeth  him  good."  Pie  has 
stripped  you  of  your  property,  he  has  prostrated 
you  with  sickness,  he  has  permitted  your  children* 
to  plant  your  path  with  thorns,  he  has  baffled  your 
cherished  plans  of  worldly  success  and  honour,  he 
has  sent  death  to  fill  your  hearts  and  your  homes 
with  desolation.  You  know,  then,  how  hard  it  is 
to  say,  u  Not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt !"  But  you 
also  know,  I  trust,  that  what  you  cannot  say  in  your 
own  strength,  he  can  enable  you  to  say ;  and  that 
however  painful  the  stroke  at  the  time,  he  can  so 
sustain  and  sanctify  you,  that  you  shall  afterwards 
look  back  upon  it  with  the  subdued  and  grateful 
feeling,  "  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted." 


THE    PRODIGAL. 

BT 

JOHN  LEYBURN,  D.  D. 

EDITOR    OF   THE   PRESBYTERIAN,    PHILADELPHIA. 


I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  Father. — Luke  xv.  18. 

The  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  is  among  the  most 
interesting  and  affecting  portions  of  the  Word  of 
God.  Its  strong  pictures  stand  out  with  great  bril- 
liancy and  force.  Its  tender  associations,  drawn  from 
the  family  hearth-stone,  grouping  together  a  father's 
love,  the  waywardness  of  intractable  boyhood,  the 
prodigal's  alienation  from  home,  his  spendthrift  life, 
and  what  it  brought  him  to ;  the  coming  to  himself 
amidst  the  wretchedness  and  want  his  sins  had  in- 
duced, his  return,  the  old  father  still,  though  years 
had  passed,  looking  out  for  his  lost  one,  and  recog- 
nizing him  afar  off  in  his  rags,  the  meeting,  the  forgive- 
ness, the  rejoicing — did  ever  painter  have  a  finer  suc- 
cession of  scenes  for  pencil  and  canvass,  than  inspi- 
ration has  here  written  in  its  simple,  telling  language  ? 

This  parable,  however,  has  other  bearings,  far  out- 
reaching  its  mere  dramatic  interest.  Whilst  it  speaks 
of  the  relation  of  father  and  son,  of  alienation,  re- 
turn and  forgiveness,  it  shadows  forth  under  beauti- 
ful imagery  great  scriptural  truths,  which  have  to  do 

24  ( 353  ) 


354  THE   PRODIGAL. 

with  the  immortal  welfare  of  the  soul.  Under  the 
person  of  the  father  is  represented  God,  the  one 
great  Father  of  us  all ;  the  son  is  the  sinner,  fallen 
and  estranged,  and  loving  his  wanderings  well ;  the 
far  country  is  the  world  of  sin  and  misery,  in  which 
he  makes  his  home ;  the  coming  to  himself,  his  con- 
viction of  sin ;  his  return,  his  repentance ;  and  his 
acceptance  and  the  rejoicings  over  him,  his  regenera- 
tion and  adoption  into  the  household  of  the  righte- 
ous. The  parable,  then,  has  great  practical  bear- 
ings ;  and  in  order  to  bring  these  into  such  shape  as 
that  they  may  favourably  affect  you,  my  readers, 
we  shall  educe  from  the  passage  a  few  of  its  plain, 
practical  teachings. 

1.  The  first  thought  which  the  passage  suggests 
is — that  God  has  given  to  all  men  a  portion  of  sub- 
stance. Over  and  above  that,  which  may  be  re- 
garded as  in  some  measure  mediately  the  result  of 
our  own  application  and  industry,  we  are  endowed 
by  nature  with  certain  important  gifts,  which  may 
be  regarded  as  a  capital  in  hand,  wherewith  to  do 
our  trading  for  time  and  for  eternity,  and  of  which 
all  after  accumulations  are  but  the  workings  up. 
What  greater  gift  could  the  Father  of  us  all  bestow 
upon  one  of  his  creatures,  than  a  reasonable  soul  ? 
This  he  has  not  given  to  beasts,  birds,  creeping  things, 
or  to  any  other  order  of  creation  connected  with  this 
planet  where  we  dwell.  A  soul,  rational  and  immor- 
tal, is  man's  possession  alone.  It  uplifts  him  from 
the  common  ground  on  which  stand  all  other  earth- 
born  creatures,  invests  him  with  a  lofty  superiority, 
and  makes  him  to  have  dominion  over  them  all.  A 
great  gift  is  this  soul  of  man — more  valuable  than 


JOHN   LEYBURN,    D.    D.  355 

gems,  than  mines  of  gold,  or  crowns  and  kingdoms 
— than  all  the  world  beside.  Especially  does  this 
gift  of  a  soul  seem  to  be  a  valuable  portion  when  we 
look  at  its  varied  faculties  and  capabilities. 

It  is  endowed  with  an  understanding.  It  has  ca- 
pacities for  high  intelligence.  It  can  discern,  appro- 
priate, digest,  and  powerfully  use  knowledge.  It 
can  reason,  analyze,  pursue  long  and  difficult  logical 
processes,  and  fairly  revel  in  the  great  fields  of  thought 
which  stretch  out  over  the  vast  universe  of  God.  It 
has  imagination,  and  can  create  from  next  to  nothing 
realms  of  fancy,  peopling  them  at  pleasure  from  her 
vast  store-houses. 

The  soul  lias  a  conscience  also.  It  has  capacities 
not  only  for  intelligence,  but  is  possessed  of  moral 
susceptibilities;  it  can  discern  truth  and  approve  it; 
it  can  know  evil  and  condemn  it.  Rightly  edu- 
cated and  directed,  of  all  the  elements  of  a  human 
soul,  conscience  is' of  most  importance.  Better  could 
we  do  without  any  thing  else  than  do  without  that 
which  God  has  put  within  us  as  a  sort  of  vicegerent 
for  himself — sent  to  occupy  the  inner  temple  of  our- 
selves, to  make  right  suggestions,  to  chide  us  when 
we  would  go  astray,  to  encourage  and  cheer  us  on 
in  all  rightrdoing.  Conscience — the  law  written  on 
the  heart,  excusing  and  accusing — when  properly  en- 
lightened, is  as  if  we  heard  the  voice  of  God,  speak- 
ing in  audible  terms  approbation  or  displeasure. 

And,  further,  to  the  soul  also  belongs  a  will ;  it 
has  powers  of  volition;  like  the  pilot  of  the  boat, it 
can  turn  the  soul  about,  bearing  it  onward  or  keep- 
ing it  steadfast,  consenting  to  evil  or  refusing,  ac- 
cepting the  offered  ways  of  life  and  walking  in  them, 


356  THE   PRODIGAL. 

or  else  choosing  the  road  to  death  and  travelling 
there.  In  this  will  lies  the  power  of  the  man ;  turn 
this  and  you  turn  one's  whole  self;  fix  this  to  pur- 
poses of  good,  and  you  have  lashed  the  bark's  helm, 
with  her  bows  towards  a  peaceful  haven,  from  which 
no  adverse  winds  or  currents  can  divert  her. 

The  soul  has  affections  too ;  it  can  love  and  it  can 
hate.  Among  the  chiefest  joys  life  affords,  are  the 
knitting  together  of  hearts  by  ties  of  warm  affection, 
so  that  in  each  other  they  find  something  to  approve 
and  delight  in,  to  enlist  the  sympathies  and  sensi- 
bilities— something  to  enjoy  and  almost  live  for. 
Men  love  their  children,  wives,  neighbours — they 
have  sympathies  warm  and  tender  beating  in  com- 
mon with  a  circle  in  whose  veins  runs  their  blood, 
or  in  whose  minds  dwell  kindred  sentiments  and 
purposes. 

Here,  then,  in  this  soul,  with  its  treasure  of  un- 
derstanding, conscience,  will  and  affections,  we  have 
the  portion  of  goods  which  God  our  Father  from  on 
high  bestows  upon  us  all,  at  the  outset  of  life.  A 
rich  inheritance  truly  is  ours,  worth  infinitely  more 
than  houses,  lands,  ships  or  stocks. 

2.  The  impenitent  have  taken  this,  their  sub- 
stance, and  gone  into  a  far  country. 

This  present  evil  world,  with  its  pride,  covetous- 
ness,  lust  and  self-seeking,  is  a  country  far  from 
God.  God  is,  indeed,  in  his  essence  and  by  his  ever- 
present  providence,  not  far  from  every  one  of  us. 
The  sinner,  with  all  his  efforts,  cannot  escape  from 
the  vision  of  the  Omniscient,  nor  from  the  immedi- 
ate proximity  of  the  Omnipresent,  nor  from  the  all- 
powerful  grasp  of  the  Omnipotent.     The  wings  of 


JOHN   LEYBURN,   D.   D.  357 

the  morning  cannot  bear  him  from  God's  sight,  nor 
can  the  darkness  hide  him,  nor  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth,  nor  the  depths  of  hell  conceal  him. 

Still,  as  to  that  nearness  of  the  soul  to  God,  which 
presumes  a  resemblance  to  him  in  moral  nature,  a 
sympathy  in  the  things  hated  and  delighted  in,  and 
a  close  and  joyful  communion  of  spirit  with  him, 
there  is  none  of  it.  It  is  matter  of  no  great  diffi- 
culty, impenitent  reader,  to  prove  from  the  actings 
out  of  your  own  life  towards  all  that  represents  your 
God  and  Saviour  here  on  earth,  that  you  have  wan- 
dered far  from  him.  Here,  for  instance,  is  his  Word. 
In  this  blessed  book  of  inspiration  is  the  very  lan- 
guage of  his  utterance,  placed  on  record  for  the  in- 
struction and  admonition  of  mankind ;  historically 
it  is  an  interesting  book ;  poetically,  strikingly  sub- 
lime and  beautiful ;  as  to  the  times  in  which  it  was 
produced,  it  runs  through  the  lapse  of  ages,  and  in 
the  subjects  of  which  it  treats,  extends  through  eter- 
nity. There  is  no  reason,  therefore,  in  the  Bible 
itself,  why  it  should  not  be  as  attractive  as  any  other 
volume.  But  is  it  so  ?  Under  the  suggestions  of 
an  uneasy  conscience,  you  may  at  rare  intervals,  or 
perhaps  even  statedly,  read  over  a  chapter  or  two, 
but  in  these  glorious  themes  with  which  its  pages 
are  enriched,  and  which  are  so  well  adapted  to  en- 
kindle the  enthusiasm  and  affections  of  the  soul, 
how  far  are  you  from  any  thing  of  this !  To  the 
unregenerate  man,  God's  word  is  not  so  welcome  as 
an  ordinary  history,  or  a  poem,  a  novel,  or  a  news- 
paper; its  perusal  is  absolutely  uninteresting  and 
irksome ;  if  read  at  all,  it  is  read  under  the  direct 
stress  of  conscience ;  you  do  not  love  its  truths,  nor 


358  THE    PRODIGAL. 

do  its  great  principles  wake  up  any  congenial  chord 
in  your  bosom.  You  will  hence  generally  neglect  it, 
treat  it  with  practical  contempt,  allow  it  to  lie  until 
the  dust  accumulates  on  its  unopened  covers,  ever 
trying  to  get  away  from  what  will  bring  God  and 
eternity  before  you. 

So  also  it  is  with  prayer.  Prayer  is  a  direct 
speaking  to  God  through  the  intervention  of  his  Son. 
It  is  when  the  soul  is  engaged  in  earnest  supplica- 
tion that  God,  by  his  Spirit,  deigns  to  visit  the  soul. 
The  closet  is  a  place  of  constant,  sweet  communion 
to  the  true  disciple,  akin  in  its  pure,  heart-cheering 
enjoyments  to  heaven ;  but  the  sinner  has  no  appre- 
ciation of  the  privilege ;  he  does  not  find  comfort  in 
pouring  out  his  soul  to  Him  whose  ear  is  ever  open 
to  the  suppliant's  cry;  if  he  utters  what  is  called 
prayer,  it  is  but  the  idle  repetition  of  words ;  no 
wrestlings  of  the  soul  are  there,  no  taking  hold  of 
the  promises,  no  visions  of  Christ,  no  well-springs 
of  consolation;  all  is  dull,  unattractive,  repulsive. 
Hence  he  seldom  goes  through  Oven  the  form  of  pri- 
vate prayer  to  God.  He  lives  day  after  day  without 
asking  the  Divine  blessing  upon  him  for  this  world 
and  the  next — without  even  thinking  of  it.  In  fact, 
if  by  any  means  he  should  be  reminded  that  living 
praj^erless  is  an  offence  before  God,  so  that  his  con- 
science begins  to  rebuke  him,  he  bestirs  himself 
straightway  to  silence  conscience  or  drug  it  to  sleep. 
He  does  not  wish  to  pray;  he  has  no  desire  for  com- 
munion with  heaven ;  he  has  taken  his  portion  of 
goods  and  wandered  far  away ;  he  does  not  wish  to 
speak  with  God. 

In  regard  to  the  public  services  of  God's  house, 


JOHN    LEYBURN",    D.    D.  359 

too,  the  same  spiritual  phenomena  occur.  This  is  a 
place  where  God  vouchsafes  to  be  present.  His 
children,  who  love  him,  and  desire  to  enjoy  his 
favour,  delight  to  be  there.  They  can  say,  like  the 
Psalmist,  "  How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles,  0  Lord 
of  Hosts  !"  "  A  day  in  thy  courts  is  better  than  a 
thousand."  "  I  had  rather  be  a  door-keeper  in  the 
house  of  God,  than  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wicked- 
ness." Not  so  with  the  sinner.  He  had  rather 
dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness.  No  desire  has  he 
to  keep  the  doors  of  the  sanctuary.  Not  that  we 
would  intimate  that  he  is  not  a  church-goer.-  Edu- 
cation, a  vague  sense  of  religious  obligation,  a  general 
impression  of  the  importance  of  sustaining  the  ordi- 
nances and  influences  of  Christianity  for  the  public 
good,  and  other  circumstances,  may  have  rendered 
him  quite  a  punctual  attendant  at  church.  Nor  is  he 
always  an  uninterested  hearer.  When  the  preacher 
delivers  his  message  with  fine  rhetorical  accompani- 
ments, it  may  be  in  his  ears  as  the  melodious  sound  of 
a  pleasant  instrument.  When  good  hits  are  made  at 
the  short-comings  of  religious  professors,  or  at  gen- 
eral public  evils,  he  can  listen  with  real  enjoyment, 
and  say,  That  was  well  done.  When  a  doctrinal 
point  is  discussed,  he  can  follow  the  speaker  in  his 
logical  connections,  appreciate  the  argument,  confess 
that  he  has  made  good  his  points,  and  give  his  judg- 
ment that  he  is  an  able  minister  of  the  Word  of  God. 
But  let  the  minister  forget  his  rhetoric,  and,  leav- 
ing generalities,  or  abstract  doctrines  and  other 
people's  sins,  come  directly  home  to  the  sinner's  own 
case,  charging  his  transgressions  down  upon  him, 
waking  up  conscience  to  say,  "  Thou  art  the  man," 


360  THE   PRODIGAL. 

and  pointing  to  the  terrible  retributions  threatened 
against  such  as  he,  then  what  has  this  hearer  to  say? 
Wearily  he  sits  beneath  such  messages ;  no  praises 
has  he  now  for  the  preaching,  and  but  little  admira- 
tion for  the  preacher.  He  is  disposed  to  be  captious, 
perhaps  wishes  for  a  change  of  ministers,  or  a  change 
of  his  church  for  one  where  he  will  hear  things  less 
unpleasant,  or,  it  may  be  he  forsakes  the  sanctuary  al- 
together. It  was  not  from  love  of  the  truth,  or  love  to 
God,  he  ever  went  there ;  but  from  habit,  interest  in 
good  speaking,  or  of  a  well-digested  argument,  and 
other  extrinsic  influences ;  and  now,  when  these  are 
withdrawn,  and  God,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  his  Word,  is  revealed,  he  wishes  to  flee  away  and 
hide  himself.  He  has  left  his  father's  house,  and 
gone  so  far  astray  that  he  does  not  wish  to  have 
God  even  speak  to  him. 

So  far  has  he  gone,  too,  and  so  fixed  is  he  in 
his  purpose  to  stay  at  a  distance,  that  hitherto  all 
means  have  failed  to  bring  him  back.  Preaching, 
persuasions  of  friends,  the  example  of  others  re- 
turning, solemn  and  affecting  providences,  and  even 
the  occasional  movings  of  the  Spirit,  have  all  been 
unsuccessful.  He  has  taken  his  goods  and  gone 
into  a  far  country. 

3.  In  the  far  country,  whither  the  sinner  has 
gone,  like  the  prodigal,  he  is  squandering  his  goods. 
Understanding,  affections,  conscience,  and  will,  may 
not  indeed  be  buried  in  a  napkin,  but  they  are  traded 
with  for  self  and  this  world,  instead  of  for  God. 
What  seekings  after  divine  truth,  what  flames  of 
heavenly  love,  what  heart-searching  to  bring  out 
hidden  sins  that  they  may  be  slain,  what  self-morti- 


JOHN   LEYBURN",    D.    D.  361 

fieation,  what  purposes  to  lay  out  the  life  for  Christ 
and  his  cause,  are  ever  seen  in  him !  Alas  !  to  all 
these  he  is  as  much  a  stranger,  and  they  as  much 
strange  to  him,  as  if  such  things  were  never  set  forth 
as  a  part  of  the  obligations  incumbent  upon  him. 
According  to  that  high  and  holy  sense  in  which 
God  looks  upon  nothing  as  rightly  done,  which  has 
not  as  its  prime  motive  a  desire  for  his  glory,  the 
sinner's  whole  life  has  been  fruitless.  From  the 
dawn  of  his  being,  to  the  present  hour,  he  has  not 
done  one  act,  nor  spoken  one  word,  nor  exercised  a 
single  affection  nor  volition,  nor  cherished  a  thought 
which  heaven  can  approve.  Neither  his  own  soul, 
nor  the  souls  of  others  are,  by  any  intention  upon 
his  part,  the  better  of  his  having  come  into  this 
world.  As  to  all  the  rich  and  glorious  revenues, 
which  God  had  a  right  to  expect  from  the  priceless 
inheritance  he  has  given  him,  he  has  been  a  most 
unprofitable  servant. 

But  this  neglect,  rightly  to  use  his  goods,  is  only 
the  negative  aspect  of  his  sin.  He  has  positively 
misused  and  squandered  them ;  he  has  diverted 
them  to  ends  absolutely  mischievous ;  he  has  lived 
for  self,  for  family,  and  for  worldly  aggrandize- 
ment. If  sensual  pleasures  have  been  most  agree- 
able, to  these  he  has  devoted  himself,  and,  in 
that  delusive  department  of  things  earthly,  has  gone 
the  rounds  of  gaiety  and  fashionable  dissipation, 
laying  out  himself  for  sumptuous  living,  worldly 
show,  or  more  vulgar  vice,  and  saying,  "  Soul,  take 
thine  ease."  Or  if  his  tastes  have  been  of  an  avari- 
cious cast,  he  has  gone  out  into  the  market  place, 
and  there,  with  care  and  toil,  has  lived  but  to  ac- 


362  THE    PRODIGAL. 

cumulate,  and  having  accumulated,  still  abandoned 
himself  to  the  same.  Or  if  ambition  has  been  his 
ruling  passion,  he  has  sought,  by  all  devices  which 
ingenuity  could  suggest,  and  all  the  industry  of  which 
he  was  capable,  for  power  and  place.  These  have 
constituted  the  one  great  object  for  which  the  por- 
tion of  life  already  past  has  been  exhausted — to 
which  the  talents  given  him  have  been  devoted. 
Fruitless  as  to  the  chief  end  for  which  he  was 
created,  and  fruitful  in  all  that  is  forbidden,  in  the 
far  country  of  this  world  of  sin,  he  has  squandered 
his  substance  on  things  which  have  produced  no 
profit,  either  for  God's  glory,  for  the  highest  welfare 
of  his  fellow  men,  or  for  his  own  eternal  interests. 
With  such  riotous  living  have  his  talent!  been 
wasted. 

4.  Like  the  prodigal,  also,  the  sinner  is  in  a  perish- 
ing condition.  Restive  was  the  wayward  son  with  the 
restraints  of  his  father's  house ;  puffed  up  with  the 
vain  conceit  that  he  could  do  better  for  himself  than 
could  be  done  for  him  at  his  native  home ;  imagining 
that  the  indulgences  from  which  parental  love  with- 
held him  were  things  to  be  desired,  and  wishing  to 
be  where  he  could  revel  amid  such  pleasures  unmo- 
lested, he  secured  his  portion  of  goods,  and  went  away 
to  lead  a  life  of  sensuality.  For  a  season,  perhaps, 
all  went  on  wrell.  Vice  yielded  a  transient  satisfac- 
tion. With  money  at  command  and  none  to  hinder, 
he  could  betake  himself  to  such  pleasures  to  his 
heart's  content.  He  probably  wondered  that  he 
could  so  long  have  endured  the  mopish  life  at  home. 
The  freshness  of  sinful  joys  enables  him  to  enter  into 
them  with  a  full  relish.     But  soon  the  scene  changes. 


JOHN   LEYBURN,   D.   D.  363 

He  finds  that  sin  has  a  bitter  as  well  as  a  sweet ; 
that  the  chalice,  whose  delicious  draughts  have  so  ex- 
hilarated, had  wormwood  amongst  its  dregs.  Hours 
of  revelry  left  days  of  ennui,  and  an  aching,  empty, 
•desolated  heart.  Soon  money  was  gone — that  which 
had  bought  the  momentary  pleasures — and  with  that 
went  friends,  and  the  joys  of  the  sinful,  lustful 
life.  He  has  tried  in  vain  to  find  the  real  good  which 
he  had  sought  for.  With  all  his  gettings,  his  soul  is 
emptier  than  at  first ;  and  now  he  has  not  where- 
with to  get,  at  all.  He  lacks  the  very  necessaries 
for  existence — he  perishes  with  hunger. 

Now  to  this  end  has  the  prodigal  sinner  already 
come.  With  all  his  toil  he  has  never  been  satisfied. 
Every  acquisition,  however  eagerly  and  patiently 
sought  for,  and  whatever  he  may  have  hoped  from 
it,  has  but  left  the  same  void  within.  His  plans  may 
have  been  well  laid,  they  may  have  been  judiciously 
prosecuted,  they  may  have  been  successful.  But 
what  then?  Success  when  achieved  , has  been  his 
bane  instead  of  his  lasting  joy.  The  end  attained,  all 
the  exhilaration  and  interest  of  the  pursuit  have 
vanished,  and  he  finds  himself  in  possession  of  that 
which,  if  honest,  he  can  only  hold  up  before  his 
mind's  eye,  and  look  at,  whilst  he  exclaims,  "  How 
hast  thou  cheated  me?  With  hard  toil,  for  long 
months,  with  much  care  and  weariness,  I  have  sought 
thee,  and  now  thou  art  mine,  what  art  thou  ?  What 
joy  canst  thou  give  to  this  empty  soul,  thou  inert 
thing?  What  sorrows  canst  thou  soothe,  what  cares 
drive  away  ?  What  am  I  better  than  before  ?"  With 
all  his  getting,  he  has  gotten  but  the  chaff  which 
the  swine  do  eat,  and  is  still  perishing  with  hunger. 


364  THE    PRODIGAL. 

Is  not  such  the  experience  of  the  ungodly  world  ? 
Who  amongst  the  throngs  that  crowd  the  broad  road 
to  the  second  death,  have  ever  found  that  houses  and 
lands,  stocks  and  moneys  at  interest,  operas,  routes 
and  gay  apparel,  or  crowns,  kingdoms,  and  sceptres, 
satisfied  the  cravings  of  the  soul?  Pythius,  who 
lived  in  Asia  Minor  in  the  time  of  Xerxes,  and 
who  was,  next  to  that  monarch,  the  wealthiest 
man  in  the  world,  but  who  was  still  grinding  the 
faces  of  the  poor,  received  a  most  eloquent  rebuke, 
as  to  the  folly  of  so  setting  his  heart  on  gold,  from 
his  wife,  when  she  had  a  splendid  banquet  prepared 
with  nothing  to  eat  on  the  table  but  gold.  Saladin, 
one  of  the  sovereigns  of  Asia,  after  all  the  glories 
he  had  won,  when  at  last  his  dying  hour  approached, 
could  but  say  to  his  standard  bearer — "  Go  show  this 
flag  of  the  dead  to  the  army,  and  tell  them  that  the 
lord  of  the  East  could  bring  nothing  but  a  single  gar- 
ment to  the  grave."  All  the  world's  promised  good, 
however  fascinating  in  appearance,  like  the  beauti- 
ful apples  of  Sodom,  falls  to  ashes  at  the  touch.  Far, 
far  have  you  wandered  amidst  such  vain  pursuits ; 
long,  long,  has  your  aching  heart  craved  for  some- 
thing to  fill  its  vast  desires ;  but  all  earth's  resources 
exhausted,  has  there  not  remained  the  aching,  empty 
heart  still?  Are  you  not  hungering,  perishing 
still?  The  priceless  treasure,  the  immortal  soul, 
which  God  gave  you  as  your  inheritance,  is,  indeed, 
still  yours,  but  in  the  wanderings  and  squanderings 
it  has  become  stupified  with  sin,  and  is  of  itself  in- 
capable of  yielding  any  revenue  of  real  good ;  and 
there,  lying  in  your  helplessness,  with  only  the 
swine's  chaff  for  your  diet,  you  perish  with  hunger. 


JOHN   LEYBURN,    D.    D.  365 

5.  The  only  remedy  in  this  sad  extremity  is,  first 
of  all,  like  the  prodigal,  to  come  to  yourself. 

Amidst  the  wretchedness  and  ruin  which  his  reck- 
less course  had  brought  upon  him,  God's  mercy  still 
allowed  him  to  remember  that  there  were  good  things 
in  the  home  he  had  left.  At  that  father's  house 
want  was  never  known ;  no  rags  were  seen  even  on 
the  lowest  menial  who  waited  within  its  portals; 
none  ever  hungered  in  vain,  amid  the  plenty  with 
which  that  board  was  spread;  all  were  cared  for 
bountifully,  cheerfully,  and  to  their  hearts  utmost 
content.  How  does  he  envy  the  lot  of  the  lowest 
who  dwell  there.  Happy  are  they  ;  whilst  he,  who 
once  as  a  son  shared  the  bounties  of  that  board,  is 
here  in  a  far  country,  in  the  fields  amidst  the  swine, 
striving  to  keep  off  famine  with  the  husks  on  which 
the  poor  brutes  he  is  tending  seem  to  revel,  but 
which  refuse  to  refresh  and  nourish  him.  Why  did 
he  ever  leave  that  home?  What  compensation  has 
his  riotous  living  afforded,  for  the  peaceful  plenty 
and  comfort  he  there  relinquished  ?  How  was  he 
deluded  in  imagining  that  a  life  of  folly  and  sin  was 
more  to  be  desired,  than  the  gentle  and  wholesome 
restraints  which  prevailed  in  the  paternal  mansion. 
The  spell  which  rested  on  him  has  been  broken,  and 
he  now  sees  things  in  their  proper  light.  He  has 
come  to  himself;  he  was  beside  himself  before. 

And  how  truly  may  it  be  said  of  every  wanderer 
from  God,  who  is  seeking  his  treasures  among  earthly 
things,  that  he  is  beside  himself.  What  man  in  his 
sane  mind  could  choose  a  portion  such  as  this  world 
affords,  in  preference  to  that  offered  him  from  the 
Father's  house  on  high;  and  especially  when  his  oft- 


366  THE    PRODIGAL. 

repeated  experience  has  taught  him  how  vain  are 
all  things  here  below  ?  In  that  house  there  are  in- 
deed restraints,  but  these  are  only  to  bar  the  soul 
from  what  would  bring  but  disappointment,  sorrow 
and  shame,  were  they  ours.  With  kind  paternal 
tenderness  and  discrimination,  and  with  a  full  know- 
ledge of  what  is  best  for  his  children,  our  Father  in 
heaven  places  his  prohibitory  mandate  only  over  the 
gateways  Avhich  lead  to  wretchedness  and  ruin. 
His  commandments  are  not  grievous.  His  ways  are 
ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  his  paths  are  peace. 
He  spreads  rich  banquets  of  heavenly  provision  ;  he 
opens  up  fountains  of  consolation  and  enjoyment, 
such  as  know  no  poisonous  intermixture ;  his  own 
Son  received  by  faith  is  meat  indeed  for  the  famish- 
ing soul ;  his  word  is  spirit  and  life ;  he  gives  peace 
of  conscience,  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  a  hope  of 
eternal  life  beyond  the  grave ;  and  in  the  ways  of 
obedience  to  him,  and  the  fruition  of  the  promises, 
there  is  a  welling  up  of  a  fountain  from  which,  if  a 
man  drink,  he  need  never  thirst  again.  With  such 
provision  all  his  children  are  supplied  bountifully 
and  freely ;  none  need  ever  want ;  there  is  enough 
and  to  spare. 

Why  should  the  sinner  forsake  such  a  home  to 
wander  in  the  deserts  of  this  world ;  and  instead  of 
this  wholesome  nutriment,  prepared  for  the  soul  by 
him  who  made  it  and  knew  its  wants,  endeavour  to 
satisfy  himself  with  the  husks  of  earthly  good  ? 
Never  can  he  satiate  his  hungerings  until  he  come 
to  his  right  mind,  and  sees  things  in  their  real  and 
relative  value.  If  this  world  has  yielded  no  fruits 
such  as  the  soul  would  have,  why  will  he  not  look 


JOHN   LEYBURN,    D.  D.  367 

where  alone  they  can  be  found  ?  If  wandering  from 
God  has  brought  only  disappointment  and  sorrow, 
why  will  he  not  return  to  God  and  find  real  joy  ? 
Heaven's  resources  have  not  been  exhausted  by  the 
glorious  multitude  who  feed  at  its  banquet  tables. 
The  portals  of  that  forsaken  home  are  open  to  re- 
ceive him  if  he  will  but  return;  what  folly  and 
madness,  then,  to  stay  away !  Let  reason  resume 
her  throne.  Let  him  whom  God  has  made  capable 
of  the  high  dignity  of  a  son  appreciate  his  privilege, 
and  seek  to  dwell  where  he  properly  belongs.  Let 
him  come  to  his  right  mind ;  let  him  prefer  the  real 
to  the  counterfeit,  the  substance  to  the  shadow,  the 
solid  gold  to  worthless  dust,  the  banquets  of  his 
Father's  house  to  the  poor  husks  of  the  swine- 
herds. 

6.  But,  unhappily,  like  the  prodigal,  the  sinner, 
finding  himself  in  want,  often  betakes  himself  for 
aid  to  some  citizen  of  the  country  where  he  dwells. 
All  his  inheritance  being  gone,  the  famine  pressing 
hard  upon  him,  and  no  other  prospect  in  view  but 
death  by  hunger,  unless  he  finds  relief  from  some 
source,  the  prodigal  seeks  the  help  nearest  at  hand 
and  most  congenial.  As  yet  he  has  hardly  thought 
of  returning  to  his  long  forsaken  home ;  he  does  not 
care  to  go  there ;  he  fears  to  meet  the  piercing,  re- 
proachful glance  of  an  injured  father;  his  great  ob- 
ject is  to  avert  the  calamity  which  stares  him  in  the 
face ;  he  hopes  to  do  this  by  becoming  a  hireling, 
and  forthwith  joins  himself  to  a  citizen  of  that  far 
off  country,  and  goes  into  the  fields  as  a  tender  of 
swine. 

A   most   striking   counterpart   of  the   prodigal's 


368  THE    PRODIGAL. 

course  is  found  in  the  almost  uniform  conduct  of  the 
sinner  awakened  to  a  sense  of  his  perishing  condi- 
tion. He  finds  himself  in  want ;  hunger  is  gnawing 
at  his  vitals,  the  world  has  never  satisfied  him,  he 
sees  worse  things  in  store,  death  is  coming  on  and 
he  must  perish  if  he  remains  where  he  is.  Forth- 
with, therefore,  instead  of  resorting  at  once  to  the 
full  provisions  of  the  Gospel,  he  sets  himself  to 
work  out  some  righteousness  of  his  own,  by  joining 
himself  to  what  at  best  must  be  regarded  as  belong- 
ing to  the  country  of  this  present  world,  and  not  to 
the  kingdom  which  is  from  above.  He  betakes  him- 
self to  reformation,  breaking  off  from  his  more  overt 
sins ;  he  abandons  Sabbath  breaking,  profane  swear- 
ing, licentiousness,  attendance  on  places  of  worldly 
amusement  and  folly,  and  is  outwardly  a  very  dif- 
ferent man.  He  hopes  to  be  better  satisfied  under 
his  new  system  of  living.  Finding  this,  however, 
unavailing,  he  goes  further,  and  now -opens  his  long 
neglected  Bible,  reading  portions  of  it  every  day; 
he  bows  his  knees  in  secret  to  pray ;  he  is  regular 
in  his  attendance  on  the  sanctuary,  and  perhaps  be- 
gins to  frequent  the  weekly  social  meetings.  In 
these  he  hopes  to  find  relief  for  his  famishing  soul. 
But,  alas !  no  relief  comes ;  the  Bible  is  a  sealed 
book  to  him  ;  his  prayers  seem  idle  words ;  the  mes- 
sages of  the  minister  bring  no  comfort  to  his  bosom. 
In  fact  the  longer  he  continues  his  toilsome  routine 
of  religious  services  the  more  hopeless  his  prospects 
seem  to  be ;  his  heart  is  hard ;  he  cannot  feel,  or 
think,  or  act  as  he  would  do.  He  begins  to  despair 
of  help  from  these  sources.  And  well  he  may.  He 
has  been  striving  to  work  out  a  righteousness  of  his 


JOHN   LEYBUKN,    D.    D.  369 

own,  instead  of  humbly  seeking  that  which  is 
Christ  Jesus.  The  means  of  grace,  however  im- 
portant in  their  place  as  means,  and  an  outward 
reformation,  however  indispensable,  will  not  of  them- 
selves avail ;  he  has  stopped  short  of  the  right  re- 
fuge, and  joined  himself  to  what  are  best  but  citi- 
zens of  the  country  of  this  present  world.  If  he 
goes  no  further  for  help,  he  must  still  perish  with 
hunger. 

7.  And  this  leads  to  the  remark,  that,  like  the 
prodigal,  and  with  the  same  spirit  also,  the  sinner 
must  return  to  his  father's  house. 

Temptations,  indeed,  there  may  be  to  keep  him 
where  he  is.  Looking  at  the  distance  to  which  he 
has  gone,  and  the  steps  which  must  be  retraced,  the 
way  back  seems  long  and  difficult.  In  his  poverty 
and  rags  he  may  think  himself  badly  prepared  for 
the  journey.  Should  he  reach  the  gates  of  the 
homestead,  how  does  he  know  that  he  will  be  re- 
ceived ?  He  erred  in  forsaking  that  home  ;  and  his 
career  since,  together  with  his  present  wretched  ap- 
pearance, have  nothing  to  recommend  him.  Has 
not  his  father  cast  him  off  for  ever  ?  With  kindred 
doubts  and  fears  may  the  sinner,  whom  God's  Spirit 
has  convinced  of  the  vanity  of  the  world  and  the 
wretchedness  of  his  condition,  be  perplexed  when 
he  thinks  of  returning  to  God.  A  long  way,  indeed, 
has  he  wandered  in  sin.  Difficult  does  it  seem  for 
him  to  retrace  his  steps.  With  a  soul  all  polluted 
and  guilty — in  spiritual  rags  and  wretchedness,  what 
has  he  to  recommend  him  ?  He  has  treated  with 
fixed  and  intentional  neglect  and  contempt  the  calls 
to  return  which  have  been  long  ringing  in  his  ears. 

25 


370  THE    PRODIGAL. 

Even  should  lie  go  begging  to  be  received  again,  will 
the  paternal  doors  be  opened  to  him  ? 

And  yet,  what  would  the  prodigal  gain  by  staying 
away  ?  Like  the  leprous  men  at  the  gate  of  Sama- 
ria, if  he  stays  there  he  will  perish,  and  he  can  but 
perish  if  he  goes.  He  will  relinquish  all  idea  of 
sonship ;  he  will  humble  himself,  and  beg,  as  matter 
of  special  grace,  to  be  but  admitted  as  a  servant. 
And  so,  also,  we  may  ask  the  prodigal  sinner  think- 
ing of  a  return,  but  kept  back  by  doubts  and  fears, 
what  will  it  profit  you  to  stay  where  you  are  in  your 
sins  ?  You  are  dying  with  hunger ;  a  little  longer, 
and  the  famine  will  have  clean  overtaken  you,  and 
you  will  have  perished  for  ever.  Death  is  inevitable 
— the  undying,  everdying  second  death,  should  you 
remain  in  your  sins ;  if  you  go  to  your  neglected 
God  and  Saviour,  seeking  for  mercy,  you  can  but 
perish.  In  the  whole  universe  there  is  no  hope  of 
safety  but  in  this  one  thing  of  returning.  You  have 
no  merit  of  your  own  to  plead ;  but  you  can  confess 
your  sins,  and  beg  for  mercy ;  and  peradventure  par- 
don will  ensue.  So  thought  the  prodigal,  and  in 
that  dark  and  guilty  soul  the  struggle  was  ended ; 
the  last  resolve  was  made ;  the  swine-herds  and  the 
husks  were  to  be  forsaken ;  and  from  his  trembling 
lips  fell  the  words,  "  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father, 
and  say  unto  him,  Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven  and  in  thy  sight."  Such  a  resolution,  rising 
from  the  heart-depths  of  a  sinner,  evinces  the  very 
spirit  of  evangelical  penitence.  Here  is  a  sense  of 
sin ;  a  willingness  frankly  and  fully  to  confess  it ; 
the  conviction  that  it  has  all  been  against  the  holy 
and  excellent  law  of  God ;  an  abandonment  of  all 


JOHN"   LEYBURN,    D.    D.  371 

pretension  to  self-righteousness  and  a  willingness  to 
plead  guilty,  and  acquiesce  in  the  sentence  which 
would  debar  him  from  sonship  for  ever;  and  withal, 
a  determination  to  return,  casting  himself  upon  the 
mercy  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  as  his  only  hope. 
Herein  is  that  mingled  despair  and  rising  hope — that 
giving  up  of  self,  and  the  going  out  of  faith  towards 
an  all-sufficient  Saviour,  which  marks  the  transition 
of  a  soul  from  the  kingdom  of  darkness  into  that  of 
God's  dear  Son.  With  such  a  spirit,  no  sinner  need 
fear  to  seek  an  injured  father's  face. 

8.  And  this  leads  us  finally,  to  say,  that  returning 
with  the  spirit  of  the  prodigal,  a  favourable  and  joy- 
ful reception  is  certain.  Long  though  it  had  been 
since  that  wayward  son  had  fled  his  home,  the  kind- 
ness  of  a  father's  heart  had  not  grown  cold.  Wicked 
as  has  been  his  life,  and  wretched  as  he  is  in 
his  poverty  and  rags,  he  will  not  be  spurned  from 
the  homestead  doors.  His  trembling  footsteps  bring 
him  near  that  home ;  his  fainting  heart  almost  dreads 
to  make  the  appeal  to  be  received  again ;  at  the  last 
moment  he  is  almost  ready,  like  Lot's  wife,  to  look 
back  to  Sodom.  But  just  then  the  Father's  eye 
discerns  him,  the  long  lost  son  is  recognized,  the 
tender  heart  of  paternal  love  melts  in  compassion ; 
the  prodigal  begins  his  confessions,  but  ere  they  have 
been  ended,  he  is  embraced  by  a  father's  arms,  for- 
given for  all  his  wanderings,  and  acknowledged  as  a 
son  once  more.  Robes  white  and  clean  are  put  upon 
him,  he  is  adorned  with  gold,  the  fatted  calf  is  killed, 
and  the  whole  household  echoes  with  strains  of  joy. 
He  that  was  as  good  as  dead,  is  made  alive  again ; 
the  lost  is  found. 


372  THE    PRODIGAL. 

Such  a  reception,  free  and  joyful,  awaits  you,  my 
unconverted  reader,  if  in  your  wretchedness  and 
ruin  you  come  pleading  for  mercy,  at  the  doors  of 
the  kingdom.  Through  the  riches  of  grace,  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus,  all  your  sins  can  be  forgiven;  by 
the  Spirit  which  he  has  purchased  a  new  heart  can 
be  put  within  you ;  and  in  the  pure  garments  of  his 
righteousness  you  can  stand  accepted.  More  fa- 
voured than  the  prodigal,  you  have  a  divine,  all- 
powerful  friend  to  plead  your  cause.  God  the  Father, 
and  this  elder  brother  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  counsels 
of  eternity,  devised  a  plan  for  securing  the  return 
for  such  as  you.  The  Redeemer's  incarnation ;  his 
life  of '  faithful  obedience;  his  agonizing  death  on 
Calvary,  and  his  intercession  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  Father  in  heaven,  all  were  designed  to  prepare 
the  new  and  living  way  by  which  the  prodigal  sin- 
ner may  come  back  to  God.  His  own  honour  and 
the  compensation  for  the  travail  of  his  soul  are  in- 
volved in  the  rescue  of  the  lost.  Every  prodigal 
returned  is  a  fresh  contribution  to  the  rich  revenue 
of  glory  he  is  to  receive  as  recompense  for  his  shame, 
dishonour  and  death  ;  every  wanderer  brought  back 
from  sin.  and  hell,  is  a  new  token  of  his  triumph  over 
his  enemies — another  star  added  to  the  lustre  of  his 
peerless  crown.  In  such  conquests  all  heaven  sym- 
pathises— for  there  is  joy  among  the  angels  even 
over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.  Why  then  should 
you  not  come  ?  The  way  through  Christ  is  an  open 
way.  "  Him  that  cometh  to  me,"  says  he,  "  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out,"  and  in  him  your  utmost  desires 
shall  be  satisfied,  for  he  also  says,  "  I  am  the  bread 
of  life ;  he  that  cometh  to  me  shall  never  hunger." 


JOHN   LEYBURN,   D.   D.  373 

More  willing  is  the  Father  to  receive  you,  than  you 
are  to  return.  His  yearning  heart  pities  you,  his  kind 
voice  calls  you,  and  if  you  but  come  you  shall  be  a 
son  and  an  heir  in  that  glorious  household.  No 
sooner  will  the  broken  utterances  of  your  guiltiness 
fall  from  your  lips,  than  they  shall  be  heard,  and  the 
lofty  courts  of  heaven  shall  reverberate  with  songs 
of  joy. 

And  will  you  come  ?  Let  me  plead  with  you  to 
tarry  no  longer  away.  Does  your  proud  spirit  at 
last  relent  ?  Has  the  great  resolve  been  made  ?  From 
your  troubled  heart  has  the  language  gone  forth, 
"  I  will  arise  and  return  ?"  Then,  blessed,  thrice 
blessed  will  you  be.  A  Saviour's  blood  will  wash 
your  sins  away,  and  your  rags  will  be  exchanged 
for  a  robe  of  righteousness.  A  prodigal  returned; 
how  great  the  change  !  No  more  a  stranger,  but  a 
son  at  home ;  no  longer  away  in  a  desert  land  among 
the  swine,  perishing  with  hunger,  but  here  at  a 
father's  board,  where  there  is  enough  and  to  spare. 
The  husks  all  gone ;  the  empty  aching  heart  at  last 
filled — the  longing  soul  satisfied  from  the  rich  pro- 
visions of  a  Saviour's  love ;  and  though  but  yester- 
day an  outcast  beggar,  now  an  heir  of  God,  a  joint 
heir  with  Jesus  Christ,  in  full  brotherhood  with  the 
saints  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  and  but  waiting  for 
the  mansions  prepared  above,  for  the  full  fruition  of 
a  kingdom  and  a  crown.  Joy,  joy  for  ever !  The 
dead  is  made  alive !     The  lost  is  found ! 


THE  TREE  KNOWN  BY  ITS  FRUITS. 

BY 

E.  P.  HUMPHREY,  D.  D. 

PASTOR   OP    THE    SECOND   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    LOUISVILLE,    KENTUCKY. 


Preached  before  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  the  open* 
ing  of  its  Sessions  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  May  20,  1S52. 


Even  so,  every  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit,  but  a  corrupt  tree 
bringeth  forth  evil  fruit. — Matt.  vii.  17. 

These  words  of  our  Lord  contain  a  profound  and 
comprehensive  truth.  As  the  nature  of  the  tree, 
whether  good  or  corrupt,  is  made  known  by  its  fruit, 
even  so,  the  Master  observes,  false  prophets  may  be 
detected.  They  come  in  sheep's  clothing,  yet  being 
inwardly  ravening  wolves,  their  rapacity  invariably 
betrays  itself.  Now  we  may  give  to  this  maxim  a 
wider  application,  and  suggest  that  a  religious  faith, 
as  well  as  a  religious  teacher,  whether  true  or  false, 
will  develope,  by  outward  and  significant  marks,  all 
its  vital  peculiarities.  The  inner  life  of  Judaism,  in 
its  purer  days,  and  then  that  life  in  the  period  of  its 
degeneracy,  clearly  revealed  its  nature  by  many 
striking  phenomena.  The  same  remark  applies  to 
Christianity  in  all  the  phases  which  it  assumes. 
These  phases  are  determined  by  the  peculiar  the- 
ology which,  from  time  to  time,  is  received  into  the 
fixed   and   inward   convictions   of  mankind.     The 

(374) 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  375 

true  discovers  itself  as  good,  and  the  false  as  evil,  by 
inevitable  developments.  "  Even  so,  every  good 
tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit,  but  a  corrupt  tree 
bringeth  forth  evil  fruit."  The  text,  as  thus  ex- 
plained, prescribes  to  this  occasion  a  discourse  of 

OUR  THEOLOGY  IN  ITS  DEVELOPMENTS. 

The  purposes  of  this  argument  do  not  require  a 
discussion  of  our  theology  in  its  sources  and  eviden- 
ces. Nor  is  it  needful,  in  this  presence,  to  expound 
its  peculiar  doctrines.  These  have  been  made  widely 
known  through  its  living  disciples,  its  written  for- 
mularies, its  celebrated  teachers  of  former  genera- 
tions, and  their  powerful  adversaries.  Few  intelli- 
gent persons  are  ignorant  of  the  doctrines  which  its 
faithful  disciples  deduce  from  the  Scriptures,  even 
those  touching  the  sovereignty  of  God  and  the  de- 
pendence of  the  creature ;  his  purpose  as  foreor- 
daining, and  his  glory  as  the  end  of  creation,  sin, 
and  redemption;  the  imputation  unto  all  of  the 
guilt  of  the  first  man,  our  federal  head ;  the  utter 
corruption  of  human  nature  ;  the  election  unto  sal- 
vation of  a  certain  and  definite  number;  their  re- 
demption by  the  vicarious  obedience  and  penal  suf- 
ferings of  the  Son  of  God;  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  persuading  and  enabling  them  to  accept  of 
Christ;  their  justification  by  faith  alone;  and  their 
infallible  perseverance,  secured  by  the  immutability 
of  the  decree  of  election. 

These  doctrines  are  further  verified  as  of  the  sub- 
stance of  our  theology,  by  its  celebrated  symbols. 
Our  faith  is  held  within  the  brief  compass  of  the 
Lambeth  articles ;  it  is  stated  at  large  in  the  Latter 


376  THE    TREE    KNOWN    BY   ITS    FRUITS. 

Confession  of  Helvetia;  it  is  delivered  systemati- 
cally in  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  of  Dort ;  and  it 
is  yet  more  accurately  defined  in  our  own  accepted 
standards,  the  Confession  and  Catechisms  of  West- 
minster. 

Our  system  of  doctrine  is  also  identified  closely  in 
some  things,  and  substantially  in  the  most,  with  the 
names  of  the  illustrious  men  who,  since  the  days  of 
Paul,  and  of  Him  the  greater  than  Paul,  have  been 
masters  in  this  school  of  divine  learning;  even 
Augustine,  Calvin,  and  Edwards.  We  speak  with 
reverence  too,  of  Beza,  Turretin,  Owen,  Eidgley, 
Witherspoon,  Bellamy,  and  Chalmers ;  "  howbeit 
these  attained  not  unto  the  first  three." 

This  faith  is  identified,  still  further,  with  the  repu- 
tation of  its  great  adversaries — Pelagius,  Arminius, 
the  Jesuit  antagonists  of  the  Port  Royal,  the  Tri- 
dentine  Fathers,  and  Pope  Clement  XI.  in  the  Bull 
Unigenitus. 

I  may  assume,  therefore,  that  our  distinctive  prin- 
ciples are,  for  the  purposes  of  this  argument,  suffi- 
ciently familiar  to  every  intelligent  hearer,  and 
especially  to  the  members  of  the  venerable  court  in 
whose  presence  I  am  required  to  appear.  This 
being  assumed,  I  proceed  at  once  to  indicate  some 
of  the  fruits  of  our  doctrinal  system. 

In  the  first  place,  it  clevelopes  a  peculiar  type  of 
spiritual  life.  The  piety  which  has  been  subjected 
to  the  influence  of  our  theology,  includes  a  deep 
sense  of  personal  unworthiness.  The  man  perceives 
that  he  has  violated  God's  law  in  instances  without 
number;  so  that  he  is  by  wicked  works  a  sinner. 
Still  further,  he  ascertains  that  his  actual  transgres- 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  377 

sions  proceed  from  a  disposition  to  sin  inherent  in 
his  moral  constitution,  and  that  not  only  is  his 
nature  the  source  of  sin,  but  its  corruption  is  itself, 
like  all  the  motions  thereof,  truly  and  properly  sin ; 
so  that  he  is,  in  that  double  sense,  a  sinner  by 
nature.  He  acknowledges,  yet  further,  that  he  is 
wholly  disabled  to  good,  and  wholly  inclined  to  evil, 
so  that  he  is  a  sinner  only.  And  finally,  he  con- 
fesses that  this  death  in  sin  is  an  hereditary  corrup- 
tion conveyed  to  him  from  the  first  man,  Adam  ;  so 
that  he  is  a  sinner  of  a  sinful  race.  I  spend  no 
labour  in  showing  that  a  conviction  of  sin  fastened 
on  the  conscience  by  a  sense  of  active,  innate,  total, 
and  hereditary  depravity,  must  be  most  thorough 
and  pungent. 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  kindred  feeling  of  utter  help- 
lessness rests  on  his  mind.  He  perceives  that  every 
one  of  his  unnumbered  sins  deserves  the  wrath  and 
curse  of  God  for  ever ;  and,  further,  that  he  can  offer 
no  atonement  to  a  violated  law.  He  is  fully  con- 
scious, also,  of  his  absolute  want  of  power  to  change 
his  evil  nature,  itself  being  one  main  ground  of  his 
condemnation.  Another  step  brings  him  to  a  know- 
ledge of  the  condemnation  that  rests  upon  him  with 
the  imputed  sin  of  Adam,  our  federal  head.  Now 
some  may  say,  that  his  understanding  is  strangely 
perverted  who  accepts  all  these  things  as  true ;  yet 
even  they  must  concede  that  he  who  does  in  fact 
believe  them,  and  believing,  feels  their  power,  will 
realize  the  ideas  both  of  guilt  and  of  helplessness  to 
the  uttermost.  This  theology  brings  the  sinner  face 
to  face  with  his  own  inexcusable  and  aggravated 
transgressions,  and  face  to  face,  also,  with  a  conclem- 


378  THE    TREE    KNOWN   BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

nation,  from  which,  as  touching  man  or  angel,  every 
ray  of  hope  is  excluded,  and  in  which  is  mingled 
every  element  of  despair. 

But  our  doctrines  do  not  rest  here.  They  impart 
to  the  piety  of  the  believer  the  element  of  an  un- 
doubting  faith.  The  Word  of  God,  as  expounded 
by  our  divines,  exhibits  the  believer  as  a  chosen  in 
Christ  from  before  the  foundation  of  the  world ;  so 
that  his  salvation  springs  from  the  eternal  purpose 
of  God.  It  farther  declares,  that  the  love  of  God 
has  abounded  towards  him  in  a  plan  of  redemption ; 
so  that  the  believer's  safety  is  secured  by  the  mercy 
of  God.  Going  still  deeper,  he  learns  that  an  atone- 
ment has  been  made  for  sin  by  the  vicarious  and  in- 
finite sacrifice  of  the  Lord  Christ,  and  that  in  this 
expiation,  he  hath  fully  obeyed  the  precept  of  the 
law,  and  exhausted  its  penalty,  and  now  all  law  and 
all  justice  demand  the  pardon  of  the  penitent  sin- 
ner, so  that  he  is  saved  from  death  by  the  act  of  God, 
not  only  meditating  in  mercy,  but  judging  in  righte- 
ousness. Still  further,  this  expiation  relieves  us 
from  the  condemnation  we  lie  under,  by  reason  of 
our  actual  transgressions,  our  evil  natures  and  our 
relation  to  the  sin  of  the  first  man ;  so  that  this  is  an 
abounding  salvation.  The  Holy  Spirit,  moreover, 
regenerates  and  sanctifies  God's  chosen  ones  by  his 
efficacious  grace,  and  secures  also  their  perseverance 
unto  the  end;  so  that  it  is  a  complete  salvation. 

Now  if  the  believer  comprehend  these  wondrous 
truths ;  if  he  rest  his  soul  on  the  unchangeable  pur- 
pose of  God,  the  finished  righteousness  of  Christ,  and 
the  renewing  power  of  the  Eternal  Spirit ;  if  he  ap- 
prehend all  this  to  be  true,  planting  his  feet  firmly 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  379 

here,  he  realizes  the  stupendous  idea  of  salvation  by 
grace,  and  may  raise  the  triumphant  demands  of  the 
Apostle,  "  Who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?"  "  Who 
shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ?" 
"  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ  ?" 

It  might  also  be  shown,  that  the  spiritual  life,  de- 
veloped by  our  theology,  is  the  piety  of  humility ; 
that  it  is,  further,  the  piety  of  gratitude ;  and  fur- 
ther yet,  that  it  gives  to  Christ,  as  of  debt,  and  re- 
ceives from  him  as  of  grace :  "  You  go  to  receive 
your  reward,"  was  said  to  the  dying  Hooker;  "  I  go 
to  receive  mercy,"  was  his  reply.  If  all  these  things 
be  so,  we  may  well  say  that  our  theology  developes 
a  type  of  spiritual  life,  which  is  not  only  peculiar, 
but  the  highest  possible  to  humanity  in  its  mortal 
state. 

In  the  second  place,  this  theology  developes  the 
principles  of  a  free  ecclesiastical  polity. 

It  were  easy  to  show  that  our  theology,  when 
traced  to  its  logical  conclusions,  wholly  divests  the 
ministry  of  the  sacerdotal  character,  denies  that  or- 
dination hath  any  sacramental  efficacy  whatever, 
distinguishes  between  the  right  of  administering 
sealing  ordinances  and  the  power  of  government, 
affirms  that  all  believers  are,  equally,  and  as  such 
kings  and  priests  unto  God,  and  declares  for  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  sole  and  supreme  Head 
of  the  Church.  In  these  conclusions,  or  rather  in 
these  articles  of  faith,  our  doctrinal  system  developes, 
theoretically,  the  four  great  principles  which  enter 
into  the  basis  of  a  free  Church  government.  These 
are  the  parity  of  the  ministry,  the  authority  of  the 
laity  as  equal  and  co-ordinate  with  that  of  the  clergy 


380  THE    TREE    KNOWN    BY    ITS    FRUITS. 

in  every  ecclesiastical  judicatory,  the  election  of  all 
church  officers  by  the  people,  and  the  independence 
of  the  Church  in  relation  to  the  State.*  Now, 
treating  this  topic  historically,  we  cannot  fail  to  re- 
cognize a  thorough  alliance  between  our  distinctive 
faith  and  each  of  these  principles.  The  ecpiality  in 
office  of  all  men  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry 
has  been  from  the  beginning  invariably  affirmed, 
and  the  doctrine  of  the  prelacy  has  been  constantly 
rejected,  by  all  the  churches  strictly  called  reformed 
in  Europe  and  America.  Such  conceptions  of  the 
ministerial  office  did  they  obtain  from  their  theology, 
that  the  bishop's  lawn  or  mitre  would  have  been  a 
spectacle,  quite  as  rare  in  the  French,  Belgic,  or 
Helvetian  churches,  as  it  would  have  been  in  a  Pres- 
bytery of  the  old  Scottish  Kirk,  or  in  a  Puritan  con- 
venticle, or,  as  I  take  leave  to  add,  in  a  company  of 
the  apostles. 

*The  doctrine  of  our  ecclesiastical  polity  involves  these  two 
among  other  propositions.  First,  that  its  principles  are  laid  down 
in  the  Word  of  God ;  secondly,  that  the  same  principles  are  indi- 
cated by  our  theology.  The  first  proposition  discovers  the  au- 
thority on  which  Presbyterianism,  as  a  form  of  church  government, 
rests ;  and  the  other  discloses  its  logical  relations.  These  two 
propositions  are  distinct,  true,  and  in  no  degree  inconsistent.  The 
limits  of  this  discourse  did  not  admit  the  discussion  of  the  higher 
topic — the  authority  on  which  our  polity  rests.  The  author  was 
obliged  to  restrict  himself  to  a  brief  view  of  the  other  particular 
— the  logical  relations  of  our  theology  and  our  polity.  Not  sup- 
posing that  any  hearer  or  reader  of  the  discourse  would  regard  the 
affirming  of  the  second  proposition  as  a  denial  of  the  first,  the  au- 
thor is  as  much  surprised  as  are  the  Princton  lleviewers, ."  to  learn 
that  some  hearers  took  exception  to  his  discourse,  as  though  he 
placed  the  whole  authority  of  our  system  on  its  logical  relations." 
The  same  remarks  apply  to  the  treatment  of  the  third  head  of  the 
discourse. 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  381 

The  representation  of  the  people  in  all  ecclesias- 
tical courts  has  almost  invariably  attended  our  doc- 
trinal system.  Our  congregational  brethren  affirm 
this  principle  in  its  broadest  sense,  by  investing  the 
brotherhood  in  each  congregation  With  the  whole 
j)ower  of  government.  In  most  of  the  Reformed 
Churches,  the  office  of  the  ruling  elder  is  held  to  be 
of  scriptural  authority.  The  incumbents  of  this 
office  are  usually  of  the  joeople,  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple, ordained  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  invested 
with  a  divine  right  to  sit  in  every  church  court,  and 
to  share  in  all  its  deliberations.  Their  numbers, 
intelligence,  and  piety,  give  them  a  predominant  in- 
fluence in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  Their  office,  at  once 
the  ornament  and  bulwark  of  a  free  Church,  saves 
the  kingdom  of  the  saints  from  degenerating  into  a 
kingdom  of  the  clergy. 

Not  less  incontestible  is  it  that  our  doctrinal  sys- 
tem carries  with  it  the  free  election  of  all  church 
officers  by  the  people.  In  the  Romish  establishment 
the  sacerdotal  order  perpetuates  itself.  The  Pope 
is  the  creature,  and,  in  his  turn,  the  creator  of  the 
cardinals.  He  also  appoints  the  bishops,  and  they 
designate  the  priests ;  and  this  spiritual  close  corpo- 
ration takes  its  charter  from  the  dogmatic  faith  of 
the  Church,  as  settled  at  Trent.  In  the  Anglican 
establishment,  the  crown  invests  the  bishops,  the 
bishops  appoint  the  priests,  and  the  patron — it  may 
be  a  profligate  peer — endows  them  with  a  parish 
and  a  living.  This  hierarchy  experiences  no  dis- 
turbing influences  from  the  theology  with  which  it 
is  associated.  But  with  a  partial  exception,  soon  to 
be  mentioned,  the  churches  which  receive  our  pecu- 


382  THE    TREE    KNOWN    BY    ITS    FRUITS. 

liar  faith  affirm  that  the  election  of  persons  to  preach 
the  Word,  administer  the  sacraments,  and  use  autho- 
rity is  in  the  people ;  and  that  the  act  of  power,  whe- 
ther civil  or  ecclesiastical,  which  places  in  the  con- 
gregation a  pastor  not  of  its  own  free  choice,  is  an 
intrusion  which  is  to  be  for  ever  denounced  as  un- 
scriptural,  and  resisted  as  intolerable. 

The  fourth  principle,  the  separation  of  the  Church 
from  the  control  of  the  civil  power,  exhibits,  in  its 
historical  development,  a  remarkable  illustration  of 
the  vital  forces  of  our  divinity.  Calvin,  Cranmer, 
and  the  Scottish  Reformers  committed  to  the  secular 
power  an  injurious  control  over  spiritual  affairs,  be- 
cause their  intellects,  though  large  and  comprehen- 
sive, were  not  large  enough  to  comprehend  fully  the 
immense  results  of  their  theology.  They  did  not 
perceive  that  their  own  principles,  when  carried  to 
their  legitimate  conclusions,  would  deliver  the  Church 
of  Christ  from  the  dominion  of  both  kings  and  re- 
publics, and  establish  it  as  a  purely  spiritual  and  in- 
dependent power  on  earth.  It  was  their  high  office 
to  fix  in  the  convictions  of  men  a  religious  faith, 
which,  being  itself  true,  should  gradually  correct  the 
errors  of  its  most  illustrious  teachers;  and,  being 
pure,  should  purge  itself  from  all  human  ordinances ; 
and,  being  free,  should  throw  off  every  yoke  of  spi- 
ritual servitude,  until  it  became  the  inner  and  po- 
tential life  of  a  Church,  like  our  own,  which  answer- 
eth  not  to  the  Jerusalem  that  then  was,  and  was 
in  bondage  with  her  children,  but  to  the  Jerusa- 
lem which  is  above,  which  is  free,  and  the  mother 
of  us  all. 

It  may  be  suggested,  that  the  Established  Churches 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  383 

of  England  and  Scotland  exhibit  clear  instances  of 
a  coalition,  rather  than  a  repugnance,  between  our 
theology  and  the  institutions  of  Prelacy  and  Eras- 
tianism.  But  as  to  the  Anglican  Church,  it  may 
well  be  said  in  reply,  that  although  the  doctrinal 
portions  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  are  orthodox  in 
terms,  yet  an  Arminian  sense  has  been  fastened  on 
them  by  the  general  consent  of  all  concerned.  The 
form  of  sound  words  is  but  a  form ;  the  Genevan 
ingredient,  originally  cast  into  the  Alembic,  has 
long  since  evaporated,  leaving  undisturbed,  hence- 
forth, the  Prelatical  and  Erastian  elements  in  the 
crucible.  As  a  further  reply,  it  may  be  stated  that 
when  the  Anglican  Church  was  most  distinguished 
for  its  orthodoxy,  the  doctrine  of  the  prelacy  sat  but 
loosely  on  the  conviotions  of  its  bishops  and  doctors. 
The  theological  views  of  Cranmer,  the  first  Protest- 
ant Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  are  made  known  by 
the  fact,  that  his  advocacy  of  predestination  and 
election  was  as  decided  as  that  of  Augustine  himself; 
and  his  opinions  touching  the  ministry  are  revealed 
in  his  plain  avowal  of  the  conviction,  that  in  primi- 
tive times  there  was  no  distinction  between  bishops 
and  priests.  So  long  as  his  successors  in  the  pri- 
macy perpetuated  his  theology,  they  perpetuated 
also  his  gentle  views  of  prelacy ;  one  of  them  only, 
Bancroft,  venturing  to  assert  its  divine  authority. 
It  was  reserved  for  Archbishop  Laud  to  inaugurate 
the  Arminian  theology  in  the  Church,  and  with  that 
a  zeal  for  diocesan  episcopacy,  as  an  ordinance  of 
God,  a  passion  for  ceremonies,  and  a  merciless  per- 
secution of  those  who  believed,  without  subscribing 
the  creed  which  he  subscribed  without  believing. 


384  THE    TEEE   KNOWN   BY    ITS   FRUITS. 

The  history  of  this  establishment,  therefore,  instead 
of  weakening,  confirms  our  argument. 

Not  less  significant  is  the  history  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  where  our  theology  has  been  perpetuated 
for  three  hundred  years.  Its  developments  in  the 
way  of  order  have  been  infinitely  remarkable.  In 
the  first  place,  the  persuasions  of  the  English  court, 
and  the  bayonets  of  her  armies,  have  not  been  able 
to  fasten  an  Episcopacy  on  the  Kirk.  Secondly,  a 
representation  of  the  people,  sitting  in  all  the  Church 
courts,  has  ever  been  of  the  substance  of  her  polity. 
Thirdly,  the  Kirk,  although  condescending  to  be  by 
law  established,  has  never  been  Erastian ;  and  the 
moderate  party,  so  called,  which  verged  towards 
Erastianism  in  policy,  exhibited  at  the  same  time 
the  most  unequivocal  tendencies  towards  Arminian- 
ism  in  doctrine ;  while  the  opposite  party  contended 
both  for  orthodoxy  in  faith,  and  for  the  rights  of 
God's  people  in  the  free  choice  of  their  pastors. 
Lastly,  the  unexhausted  forces  of  our  theology,  hav- 
ing delivered  the  Kirk  from  every  other  element  of 
bondage,  is  perpetually  struggling  through  a  series 
of  agitations  and  disruptions,  to  purge  her  from  the 
remaining  iniquity  of  patronage.  These  disturb- 
ances will  be  incessantly  renewed,  from  generation 
to  generation,  until  the  venerable  Kirk  must  take 
her  choice  between  disowning  her  patronage,  or  losing 
all  her  children,  or  abandoning  that  ancient  faith, 
which  teaches  them  to  vindicate  their  rights,  even 
unto  a  separation  from  her  sacraments.  Either  her 
theology,  as  in  England,  or  her  subjection  to  the 
State,  as  in  this  country,  must  disappear  from  the 
crucible,  or  the  crucible  itself  will  be  broken  by  the 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  385 

antagonism  of  its  ingredients.     So  intolerant  is  this 
theology  of  any  other  than  a  polity  absolutely  free. 

In  the  third  place,  our  theology  developes  a  simple 
and  spiritual  mode  of  worship.  The  ritual  of  a 
religion  is  a  most  accurate  expression  of  its  system 
of  doctrine.  Comparing  the  Romish  Church  with 
our  own,  for  example,  we  shall  ascertain  that  their 
forms  of  worship  are  dissimilar,  because  their  the- 
ologies are  repugnant.  The  ceremonials  of  Rome 
are  not  accidents  of  the  system,  nor  were  they 
devised  for  dramatic  effect  alone.  They  embody  a 
meaning  ;  they  express  a  doctrine  ;  they  address  not 
more  directly  the  imagination  than  the  faith  of  the 
worshippers.  It  is  held  by  that  establishment  thai 
the  sacrament  of  the  supper,  when  rightly  adminis- 
tered, hath  an  inherent  power  to  save.  It  derives 
this  power  from  the  fact,  that  the  elements  are 
changed  into  the  body  and  blood,  the  soul  and 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  as  such  are  presented  to 
God,  a  true  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the 
living  and  the  dead.  It  is  the  function  of  the  offici 
ating  clergymen  to  offer  up  this  atoning  sacrifice ;  he- 
is,  therefore,  in  fact  a  priest,  and  the  table  on  which 
he  lays  the  oblation  is,  in  strictness  of  speech,  an 
altar.  The  priest  officiates  moreover  in  the  person 
of  Christ.  His  vestments,  the  decorations  of  the 
altar,  and  all  the  surroundings,  represent  incidents 
in  the  passion  of  Christ.  The  practised  eye  of  the 
devotee  beholds,  in  the  garments  and  bands  worn 
by  the  priest,  symbols  of  the  robe  in  which  Christ 
was  clothed,  and  the  cords  by  which  he  was  bound. 
The  crucifix,  embroidered  on  the  back  of  the  robe, 
represents  the  cross  which  Jesus  bore  on  his  shoul- 

26 


386  THE    TREE   KNOWN    BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

ders,  and  the  tonsure  of  the  priest  denotes  the  crown 
of  thorns.  The  altar  is  the  figure  of  Calvary,  and 
its  furniture  represents  the  linen  clothes  in  which 
the  body  of  Jesus  was  wrapped,  the  sepulchre,  and 
the  stone  which  was  rolled  against  the  door.  The 
crucifix  is  the  image  of  Christ's  passion  and  death ; 
the  lighted  candles  are  in  honour  of  his  triumph ; 
and  the  ascending  incense  is  symbolical  of  prayer. 
The  circular  form  of  the  wafer  denotes  the  perfec- 
tions of  the  Deity.  In  the  wafer  Christ  is  person- 
ally present;  its  elevation  is  the  fearful  immolation  ; 
and  the  prostration  of  the  worshippers  is  in  adora- 
tion of  the  atoning  lamb.  Every  gesture  and  pos- 
ture of  the  priest  embodies  a  theological  significancy. 
When  he  kisses  the  altar  or  the  book,  when  he 
spreads  forth  his  hands,  or  bathes  the  tips  of  his 
finger,  or  mingles  water  in  the  wine,  or  breaks  the 
bread,  or  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross,  or  smites  upon 
his  breast,  or  bows,  or  kneels,  he  does  not  perform  one 
empty  ceremony,  but  in  every,  even  the  minutest, 
act  of  the  sacred  pantomime,  he  exhibits  some  one 
element  in  the  single  definite  idea  of  the  great 
apostacy — salvation  by  the  sacraments  in  the  keep- 
ing of  the  priesthood.  This  central  idea,  this  inte- 
rior life  of  the  system,  not  only  prescribes  its  ritual, 
but  regulates  also  the  form,  and  size,  and  adorn- 
ments of  its  sacred  buildings.  The  cathedral  is  not 
designed  for  the  preaching  of  the  Word,  nor  yet  for 
prayer  and  praise,  but  precisely  for  the  dwelling- 
place  of  the  Lord  Christ  present  in  the  sacrament, 
and  for  the  work  of  sacrifice.  It  is,  therefore,  at 
once  a  palace  and  a  temple.  As  such  it  must 
assume  the  form  of  the  cross,  and  must  be  of  splen- 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY^   D.    D.  387 

did  architecture.  Were  the  conception  fully  real- 
ized, every  stone  in  its  walls,  though  hidden  from 
mortal  sight,  would  be  hewn  and  polished  for  the 
eye  of  the  Master.  Its  massive  doors  would  be 
curiously  wrought  in  solid  brass,  so  that  men  might 
gaze  in  wonder  on  the  beautiful  gate  of  the  temple. 
Within,  its  pillars  would  shoot  far  upwards  towards 
the  heavens ;  its  marble  pavement  would  resemble 
the  solid  earth,  and  its  swelling  dome  the  bending 
skies.  Exquisite  creations  of  genius  would  adorn 
its  walls  ;  gold,  and  silver,  and  all  rubies,  the  glory  of 
Lebanon,  and  the  purple  of  Tyre,  would  enrich  its 
shrines;  the  incense  burned  at  its  altars  would 
breathe  Sabean  odours  ;  and  music  would  invoke  its 
utmost  melody  to  fill  the  amplitude  of  the  temple 
and  its  mighty  dome  with  the  articulate  joy  of  the 
Te  Deum,  or  the  dolorous  wail  of  the  Miserere. 

Returning  now  to  our  own  doctrinal  standards,  we 
are  taught  that  the  believer  is  first  chosen  according 
to  the  eternal  purpose  of  God,  then  justified  by  the 
finished  righteousness  of  Christ,  and  renewed  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  ritual,  which  ex- 
presses these  ideas,  is  too  simple  to  be  called  a 
ritual.  When  the  Westminster  doctrine,  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  takes  the  place  of  the  Tridentine  dog- 
ma, justification  by  the  sacraments,  instantly  the 
priest  becomes  a  minister,  and  the  altar  a  com- 
munion table.  The  bread  and  the  wine  are  no 
longer  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  but  the  memo- 
rials of  these.  The  impious  immolation  of  the  mass 
is  turned  into  a  sweet  and  holy  feast,  and  the  mut- 
terings  of  the  priest  are  exchanged  for  the  pastor's 
prayer.     The  devotee,  kneeling  to  the  bread  and 


388  THE    TREE    KNOWN   BY   ITS    FRUITS. 

robbed  of  the  cup,  is  regenerated  into  the  communi- 
cant, sitting,  as  the  disciples  sat,  to  receive  the  bro- 
ken bread,  and  to  drink  from  the  cup  of  blessing, 
which  in  the  Master's  name  we  bless.  The  temple 
becomes  a  house  of  prayer  ;  the  preaching  of  Christ 
supersedes  the  elevation  of  the  host ;  the  hearing 
ear  takes  the  place  of  the  stupid  stare ;  the  lacera- 
tions of  penance  are  exchanged  for  the  sighs  of  peni- 
tence ;  the  closet  banishes  the  confessional ;  and  the 
believer's  act  of  faith,  receiving  Christ  as  the  Sa- 
viour, supplants  for  ever  the  Auto  de  Fe  of  the  In- 
quisitor, committing  God's  chosen  ones  to  the  flames. 
How  quickly,  how  utterly  does  the  true  doctrine 
exterminate  the  idolatrous  ritual  of  Rome  !  Away 
go  surplice,  tonsure,  rosary,  bowings,  kneelings, 
mutterings,  and  antiphonies ;  away,  away  go  cru- 
cifixes, paintings,  images,  dead  men's  bones,  incense, 
lighted  candles,  the  sign  of  the  cross,  masses  for 
the  dead,  and  indulgences  for  the  living.  All  these 
symbols  of  a  baptized  idolatry  do' unquestionably 
proceed  from  the  Romish  theology ;  even  so,  every 
corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit.  But  how 
simple  and  spiritual  the  worship  prescribed  by  our 
theology;  the  reading  of  the  Word,  the  song  of 
praise,  the  prayer,  the  sermon,  the  baptism,  the 
supper,  and  the  blessing  upon  the  people ;  even  so, 
every  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit- 
In  the  fourth  place,  our  theology  developes  the 
intellectual  'powers.  Not  only  was  pure  religion  re- 
vived at  the  period  of  Reformation,  but  the  human 
mind  was  inspired  with  new  activity.  It  were  an 
easy  task  to  trace  this  intellectual  awakening  to  the 
theology  of  the  Reformers.     The  doctrine  of  justifi- 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  389 

cation  by  faith  alone  was,  perhaps,  their  first  great 
discovery.  Then  five  of  the  seven  sacraments  were 
discarded  as  fraudulent,  and  the  two  that  remained 
were  wrested  from  their  superstitious  uses.  Next 
the  Word  of  God  was  rescued  both  from  the  hierar- 
chy and  the  unknown  tongue  which  concealed  its 
light.  A  step  further  revealed  the  fundamental 
principle  that  the  Bible  is  the  only  infallible  rule  of 
faith  and  practice.  A  final  step  brought  them  to 
the  knowledge  of  our  theology.  Under  the  increas- 
ing light  and  power  of  these  successive  discoveries, 
sacerdotalism,  ritualism,  the  sanctity  of  tradition,  the 
legends  of  saints,  the  dreams  of  the  fathers,  the 
insolence  and  fraud  of  priestcraft,  and  the  credulity 
and  servility  of  its  subjects,  withered  away.  The 
human  mind,  so  long  darkened,  or  intimidated,  or 
smothered  by  the  midseval  faith  and  worship,  now 
experienced  the  vitalizing  impulse  of  the  apostolical 
theology.  Other  systems  have  inflamed  the  ardour 
of  leading  minds,  but  this  communicated  an  up- 
heaving force  to  the  masses.  Never  since  the  days 
of  the  Apostles  had  there  been  such  a  wide  spread 
and  wonder  working  excitement. 

It  was  a  spiritual  and  intellectual  resurrection. 
The  dead  were  raised  ;  the  soul  dead  in  sin,  and  the 
intellect  dead  in  imbecility,  were  made  alive.  What 
was  true  then  is  true  to  this  day.  It  cannot  be  de- 
nied that  pur  theology,  saying  nothing  here  of  its 
saving  efficacy,  is  a  mighty  intellectual  power  on 
earth.  It  is  an  universal,  unfailing  educator.  It 
planted  in  Scotland  the  free  parochial  school,  and 
used  the  Shorter  Catechism  to  discipline  the  mind  of 
the  peasant's  child  up  to  the  comprehension  of  all 


300  THE   TREE    KNOWN    BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

liberal  learning.  A  missionary,  sent  by  one  of  our 
Boards  to  a  community  where  there  is  neither 
church  nor  school,  will  soon  establish  both,  and  his 
preaching  wTill  invigorate  the  understanding  of  his 
hearers,  while  it  saves  their  souls.  A  sermon  on  the 
divine  decrees,  delivered  by  a  passing  stranger,  in  a 
place  where  that  doctrine  was  never  before  ex- 
pounded, has  been  known  to  agitate  the  minds  of 
the  whole  community,  planting  in  the  bosoms  of 
many  a  strangely  quickening  power.  A  doctrinal 
book,  issued  by  our  Board  of  Publication  and  car- 
ried, we  know  not  how,  to  a  distant  frontier  settle- 
ment, has  led  the  reader  not  only  to  pray  as  he 
never  prayed  before,  but  to  meditate  with  an  inten- 
sity he  never  experienced  before.  "Thy  testimo- 
nies," saith  the  Psalmist,  "are  wonderful,  therefore 
doth  my  soul  keep  them.  The  entrance  of  thy  words 
giveth  light,  it  giveth  understanding  unto  the  simple." 

If  we  would  describe  the  effect  of  our  theology 
on  the  development  of  individual  minds,  we  should 
know  not  where  to  begin,  and  beginning  wre  should 
know  not  where  to  end  our  labours.  The  pages  of 
history  fatigue  the  eye  with  the  names  of  illustrious 
men,  who  have  arisen  in  every  land  penetrated  by 
this  doctrine.  The  learning  of  scholars,  the  elo- 
quence of  preachers,  the  irresistible  logic  of  contro- 
versialists, the  wisdom  of  statesmen,  and  the  genius 
of  great  commanders  have  borrowed  the  highest  in- 
spiration from  their  and  our  accepted  faith.  Let  us 
discharge  this  part  of  our  duty  with  the  mention  of 
a  single  name. 

John  Calvin  was  twenty  years  of  age  before  he 
was  converted  from  Rome  to  Christ.     When,  soon 


;c  iU  pAidci'fi  fo&crrd  Sk"$TV~ 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  391 

afterwards,  our  theology  struck  its  forces  into  his 
mind,  it  roused  him  to  the  utmost  stretch  of  thought. 
It  was  like  a  fire  in  his  bones.  So  vital  was  the 
new  life  within  him,  that  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  he 
had  deduced  our  entire  system  of  doctrine  from  the 
Word  of  God,  adjusted  its  elements  into  a  master- 
piece of  logical  coherence,  and  published  it  to  the 
world  in  his  immortal  Institutes.  The  twenty-eight 
years  of  life  that  remained  to  him  were  laden  with 
affliction  both  of  mind  and  body.  Physical  infirmi- 
ties multiplied  upon  him,  until  no  less  than  seven 
distinct  maladies  laid  siege-to  his  attenuated  frame. 
He  suffered  also  every  private  grief,  even  that  do- 
mestic bereavement  which  he  styled  "  an  acute  and 
burning  wound." 

It  is  impossible  to  ]ook,  without  wonder,  at  the 
labours  he  prosecuted  amidst  all  this  weariness  and 
painfulness.  The  products  of  his  pen  exist  in  nine 
huge  folios  of  printed  matter,  besides  several  hun- 
dred letters,  and  more  than  two  thousand  sermons 
and  theological  treatises  yet  unpublished.  He  pre- 
pared a  copious  commentary  on  most  of  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  he  edited  a  French  translation  of  the  word 
of  God ;  he  disputed  by  tongue  and  pen  with  Bolzec 
on  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  with  Westphal  and 
Hesshus  on  the  sacraments,  with  Welsius  on  the  free 
will,  with  Pighius  on  free  grace,  and  Servetus  on 
the  Trinity.  He  wrote  against  relics  and  astrology, 
the  Anabaptists,  the  Libertines,  and  the  Pelagians. 
He  employed  his  wit  and  sarcasm  in  assailing  the 
Sorbonne,  his  powers  of  argumentation  in  confuting 
the  Tridentine  Decrees,  and  his  noble  eloquence  in 
behalf  of  the  Emperor  against  the  Pope.     He  cor- 


392  THE   TREE   KNOWN   BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

responded  incessantly  with  his  contemporaries — Fa- 
rel,  Viret,  Beza,  Melancthon,  Knox,  Cranmer,  and 
the  Kings  of  Sweden,  Poland,  and  Navarre;  pro- 
jecting, by  his  long  and  masterly  letters,  his  own 
intellectual  and  spiritual  life  into  the  leading  minds 
of  Europe.  With  an  asthmatical  cough  upon  him, 
he  lectured  three  days  in  the  week  on  theology,  and 
preached  daily  on  every  alternate  week.  He  pre- 
sided every  Thursday  at  the  Court  of  Morals,  at- 
tended the  frequent  assembly  of  the  clergy,  assisted 
in  settling  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  Ge- 
neva ;  he  founded  there  a  seminary  of  liberal  learning, 
and  when  the  city  was  threatened  with  siege,  laboured 
at  the  fortification.  He  educated  preachers  of  the 
gospel ;  performed  many  journeys ;  was  consulted  on 
all  important  subjects ;  occupied  the  pulpits  of  his 
brethren  in  their  absence ;  and  did  not  neglect  pas- 
toral labour  in  the  congregation.  Besides  all  these 
things,  he  composed  the  dissensions  which  perplexed 
the  Reformers,  and  the  strifes  which  afflicted  the 
churches;  and  aided  in  settling  the  affairs  of  the 
Reformation  in  Poland,  Prance,  Germany,  Scotland 
and  England.  At  last,  being  compelled  by  mortal 
disease  to  relinquish  public  duties,  he  received  in  his 
chamber  all  who  sought  his  advice,  and  wore  out 
his  amanuenses  by  dictating  to  them  his  works  and 
letters.  When  his  shortening  breath  and  failing 
voice  terminated  these  labours,  his  kindling  eye  and 
heaving  breast  indicated  that  he  was  in  constant 
prayer.  On  a  beautiful  evening  in  ^l&y,  seven  days 
later  in  the  month  than  this  the  day  of  our  solemn 
convocation,  just  as  the  setting  sun  was  irradiating, 
with  its  purple  light,  the  waters  of  Lehman  and  the 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  393 

Rhone,  the  Jura  mountains  and  the  more  distant 
glaciers  of  the  Alps,  this  great  man  rested  from  his 
labours.  He  gave  directions  that  his  body  should 
be  buried  without  the  slightest  pomp,  and  that  his 
grave  should  be  marked  by  neither  monument  nor 
headstone.  His  commands  were  obeyed,  and  "no 
man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre  unto  this  day." 

In  the  fifth  place,  our  theology  develops  the  prin- 
ciples of  republican  liberty.  The  full  treatment  of 
this  topic  falls  more  naturally  into  an  historical  dis- 
course, than  into  one  strictly  religious.  Yet  a  dis- 
tinct mention,  with  a  brief  illustration  of  this  part 
of  the  case,  is  essential  to  the  completeness  of  our 
argument.  We  use  no  labour  in  showing  that  the 
principles  inherent  in  a  free  commonwealth  are  iden- 
tical with  those  which  have  been  mentioned  in  this 
discourse,  as  inherent  in  a  free  Church.  The  theo- 
logy, which  in  its  full  development,  leaves  no  place 
for  a  bishop  in  the  Church,  will  also  rule  the  king 
out  of  the  State.  John  Wickliffe  understood  this 
thoroughly  when  he  uttered  the  memorable  words, 
"  dominion  belongs  to  grace ;"  and  Charles  the  First 
was  no  mean  logician  when  he  declared  that  "  there 
was  not  a  wiser  man  seen  since  Solomon,  than  he 
who  said — no  bishop,  no  king."  The  doctrinal  sys- 
tem which  conducts  to  the  conclusion  that  all  church 
officers  should  be  elected  by  the  people,  will  push  on 
to  the  adjacent  conclusion,  that  hereditary  authority 
in  the  State  is  an  intolerable  usurpation.  The  creed 
which  demonstrates  the  right  of  the  people  to  sit  by 
their  representatives  in  all  church  courts,  and  which 
vindicates  this  right  as  divine,  and  which  further 
denies   that   the    assembly  excluding   the   popular 


394  THE   TREE   KNOWN   BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

element  is  a  scriptural  assembly,  that  creed  will 
characterize  as  unlawful  and  iniquitous  any  civil 
government  whereof  the  people  are  not  the  masters. 
Indeed,  our  system  of  faith  does  not  more  conclu- 
sively sweep  away  the  last  vestige  of  sacerdotal  usur- 
pation from  the  Church,  than  it  exterminates  every 
anti-republican  institute  out  of  the  State.  The  tem- 
poral must  follow  the  spiritual,  and  whom  Christ 
makes  free,  he  is  free  indeed. 

Such  is  the  conclusion  of  logic  in  the  premises, 
and  such,  I  now  add  as  briefly  as  possible,  is  matter 
of  fact.  Any  profound  examination  of  the  history 
of  the  Huguenots,  will  show  that  their  church,  in 
its  faith  and  order,  was  essentially  republican,  and 
as  such,  was  crushed  by  the  monarchy;  and  that 
the  political  position  of  modern  France,  is  to  be  re- 
ferred, first,  to  the  life,  and  then  to  the  destruction 
of  that  old  predestinarian  church ;  its  life  so  far  sur- 
viving in  the  heart  of  the  nation,  as  to  render  a 
fixed  monarchy  impossible,  and  that  life  so  nearly 
extinguished,  as  to  render  a  stable  republic  also  im- 
possible. Even  a  superficial  examination  of  the  his- 
tory of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  will  show 
that  this  divinity,  expounded  by  its  divines  in  the 
pulpit,  espoused  by  great  statesmen  in  Parliament, 
and  defended  by  illustrious  commanders  on  the  field 
of  battle,  infused  into  the  British  constitution  the 
soul  of  rational  liberty,  until  that  constitution  is, 
with  a  single  exception,  the  richest  repository  on 
earth  of  free  principles.  What  that  exception  is,  we 
know,  and  where  it  received  its  treasures  we  know. 
This  same  divinity  came  with  the  Puritans  to  Ply- 
mouth, with  the  Dutch.  Calvinists  and  the  Scottish 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  395 

Presbyterians  to  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and 
with  the  Huguenots  and  Presbyterians  to  South 
Carolina.  Our  fathers  did  not  found  monarchical 
institutions  on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts  bay,  or 
on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  and  the  Ashley  and 
Cooper,  for  the  same  reason  that  they  did  not  set 
up  the  worship  of  the  Virgin.  Monarchy  and  idol- 
atry were,  both  of  them,  repugnant  to  their  religious 
faith,  and  they  repudiated  both,  and  established  a 
true  worship,  and  a  free  commonwealth  on  all  these 
shores.  This  ancient  faith,  and  the  institutions 
rising  from  it,  were  perpetuated  from  generation 
to  generation,  until  they  culminated  in  the  war  of 
Independence,  and  in  the  formation  of  these  sepa- 
rate commonwealths,  together  with  their  great  con- 
federacy. From  that  faith,  as  from  a  living  root 
planted  on  our  virgin  soil,  and  by  our  rivers  of  wa- 
ters, have  sprung  the  witness  bearing  Church,  and 
the  republican  State.  These,  in  their  turn,  seeking 
a  higher  development,  have  flowered  out  with  all 
spiritual  joys,  and  all  the  fragrant  charities  of  life : 

"  So  from  the  root 
Springs  lighter  the  green  stalk,  from  thence  the  leaves 
More  aery,  last  the  bright  consummate  flower 
Spirits  odorous  breathes."* 

In  the  sixth  place,  our  theology  develops  its  life 
in  the  patience  of  the  confessors  and  martyrs.     The 

*  The  conduct  of  the  ministers,  ruling  elders,  and  communi- 
cants of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  fur- 
nishes some  remarkable  illustrations  of  this  topic.  Among  the 
ministers  who  were  actively  engaged  in  the  struggle,  were  John 
Witherspoon,  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  James 


396  THE    TREE    KNOWN    BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

martyrs  of  Protestantism  have  been  almost  exclu- 
sively drawn  from  the  bosom  of  the  Reformed 
churches,  rarely  from  the  Lutheran  or  Arminian 
communions.  A  century  before  Luther  was  born, 
John  LIuss  was  consigned  to  the  flames  by  the  coun- 
cil of  Constance,  on  charge  of  teaching,  among  other 
heresies,  the  doctrines  of  predestination  and  the  per- 
severance of  the  saints.  The  charge  was  clearly 
sustained,  for  he  had  written  in  his  book,  that  "  no 
part  or  member  of  the  church  doth  finally  fall  away, 
because  the  charity  of  predestination,  which  is  the 
bond  and  chain  of  the  same,  doth  never  fall  away." 
Jerome  of  Prague  having  avowed  his  faith  in  the 
preaching  of  Huss,  was  burned  on  the  same  spot  by 
order  of  the  same  infamous  Council.     The  works  of 

Caldwell  of  New  Jersey,  who  was  murdered  by  a  British  soldier 
for  his  patriotic  exertions ;  William  Graham  of  Liberty  Hall  Aca- 
demy, Virginia,  who,  hearing  that  Tarlton  was  advancing  on  Staun- 
ton, raised  a  company  of  volunteers  and  led  them  in  pursuit  of 
the  enemy  as  far  as  Lafayette's  camp,  below  Charlottsville ;  Pre- 
sident Smith  of  Hampden  Sidney  College,  who  repeatedly  marched 
at  the  head  of  his  pupils  to  repel  the  enemy ;  James  Hall  of 
North  Carolina,  who  assembled  his  congregation,  and  besought 
them  to  take  up  arms  for  the  common  defence,  and  immediately 
raised  among  them  a  company  of  cavalry,  and  took  both  the  com- 
mand and  the  chaplaincy ;  Samuel  Houston,  who  used  his  rifle 
with  deadly  effect  at  the  battle  of  Guildford  Court  House ;  David 
Caldwell,  for  whose  head  Lord  Cornwallis  offered  a  reward  of 
£200  ;  Thomas  McCaule,  who  led  his  flock  to  the  camp,  and  stood 
by  the  side  of  General  Davidson  when  he  fell  on  the  Catawba; 
and  Hezekiah  Balch,  who,  with  nine  ruling  elders  and  other  citi- 
zens, put  forth  the  celebrated  Mecklenburg  Declaration.  The 
military  services  of  the  ruling  elders  and  communicants  of  the 
Church  were  so  important  and  numerous  that  a  few  could  not  be 
specified,  without  seeming  invidiousness  towards  the  many  that 
must  necessarily  be  excluded  from  a  brief  note. 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,   D.    D.  397 

John  Wickliffe  being  found  by  the  council  to  con- 
tain similar  doctrines,  his  body  which  had  lain  forty- 
one  years  was  dug  up  and  burned.  As  the  old  his- 
torian writes  :  "  They  cast  his  ashes  into  the  Swift, 
a  neighbouring  brook  running  hard  by ;  this  brook 
hath  conveyed  his  ashes  into  Avon,  Avon  into  Sev- 
ern, Severn  into  the  narrow  seas,  they  into  the  main 
ocean.  And  thus  the  ashes  of  Wickliffe  are  the  em- 
blem of  his  doctrine,  which  now  is  dispersed  all  the 
world  over." 

One  hundred  and  forty  years  later  brings  us  to  the 
reign  of  Mary  the  bloody.  On  the  4th  of  February, 
1555,  John  Rogers  went  to  the  stake  at  Smithfield, 
having,  during  his  imprisonment,  set  his  hand  to  a 
confession  instinct  with  the  Genevan  doctrines.  On 
the  following  day,  Dr.  Roland  Taylor,  three  days 
later  Lawrence  Sanders,  one  day  after  him,  Bishop 
John  Hooper,  three  weeks  yet  later  Bishop  Ferrar, 
and  in  the  June  following  John  Bradford,  confessors 
with  Rogers  by  signing  the  same  memorable  docu- 
ment, became  martyrs  likewise  with  him,  giving 
their  bodies  to  be  burned.  In  October  of  the  same 
year,  Ridley  and  Latimer,  both  bound  to  one  stake 
at  Oxford,  testified  to  the  truth  of  our  divinity  in 
their  last  words  to  the  Church  and  their  dying  prayer 
to  God.  In  December  following,  Archdeacon  Phil- 
pot,  and  not  long  after  him  the  illustrious  Cranmer, 
in  the  profession  of  the  same  faith,  and  the  suffering 
of  the  same  death,  entered  into  the  joy  of  the  Lord. 

Turning  now  to  the  sister  kingdom,  we  learn  that 
nearly  thirty  years  before  Rogers  was  burned  in 
London,  Hamilton  passed  through  the  fires  of  St. 
Andrews.     If   the   cruelty  of   the   English  Bishop 


398  THE    TREE    KNOWN   BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

justifies  the  historian  in  exclaiming,  "that  lion, 
tiger,  wolf,  bear,  yea,  a  whole  forest  of  wild  beasts 
met  in  Bonner,"  he  was  well  matched  by  the  Scot- 
tish Cardinal  Beaton.  The  priory  of  St.  Andrews 
is  no  less  monumental  of  Wishart's  sufferings  than 
is  the  gate  of  Baliol  College  of  Ridley's ;  and  the 
altar  on  Castle  Hill,  at  Edinburgh,  smoked  as  inces- 
santly as  that  in  Smithfield,  with  the  blood  of  the 
saints.  It  is  as  certain,  moreover,  that  the  Scottish 
martyrs  were  of  the  faith  of  Knox,  as  that  the 
English  martyrs  were  of  the  faith  of  Cranmer. 

I  may  not  detain  this  argument  with  a  detail 
of  the  sufferings  endured  for  Christ,  during  the 
seventeenth  century,  by  the  non-conformists  of  Eng- 
land and  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland.  The  intol- 
erance of  Archbishop  Laud  in  the  one  country  had 
its  counterpart  in  the  bigotry  of  Archbishop  Sharpe 
in  the  other ;  the  judicial  murders  of  Jeffries  were 
equalled  in  atrocity  by  the  military  butcheries  of 
Claverhouse ;  the  high  commission  answered  to  the 
court  of  justiciary;  the  "  Bloody  Assizes"  of  sixteen 
hundred  and  eighty-five,  in  England,  corresponded 
to  the  "  Killing  Time"  of  sixteen  hundred  and 
eighty-four,  in  Scotland ;  and  the  grave  yard  of  Bun- 
hill  Fields,  in  London,  and  that  near  the  Grass- 
market,  in  Edinburgh,  gave  rest  to  a  multitude 
of  "them  that  were  beheaded  for  the  witness  of 
Jesus."  Of  the  peculiar  theology,  to  which  all 
these  gave  testimony,  there  is  no  need  that  one 
should  speak. 

The  martyrology  of  the  Netherlands  is  not  less 
decisive  in  support  of  our  argument.  The  theology 
which  entered  these  countries  at  the  period  of  the 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  399 

Reformation,  was  unquestionably  the  same  that  was 
subsequently  affirmed  by  the  judgment  of  the  Synod 
of  Dort.  It  is  true  that  Holland  was  the  original 
seat  of  Arminianism,  and  the  birth  place  of  its  great 
teacher ;  yet  it  is  also  true  that,  twenty-four  years 
before  that  teacher  was  born,  William  Tyndal  was 
strangled  and  burned  at  Antwerp,  having  translated 
the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  and  deduced  from 
them  the  doctrine  that,  such  is  his  own  language, 
"in  Christ  the  believer  was  predestinated  and  or- 
dained unto  eternal  life  before  the  world  began." 
Five  years  before  the  birth  of  Arminius,  the  morose 
fanatacism,  with  which  Charles  V.  had  pursued  the 
saints  of  the  most  High  God,  gave  place  to  the 
wilder  fury  of  Philip,  the  husband  of  Mary  the 
bloody.  The  founder  of  the  new  theology  was  a 
lad  of  only  eight  years,  playing  in  the  streets  of 
Oudewater,  when  the  Duke  of  Alva  entered  the  low 
countries  and  established  the  Council  of  Blood ;  and 
he  was  only  fourteen  years  of  age  when  the  Duke 
left  the  Netherlands,  boasting  that  he  had,  within 
five  years,  delivered  eighteen  thousand  heretics  to 
the  executioners.  If  it  be  needful  to  add  another 
word,  we  may  observe  that  the  Papal  persecution 
had  nearly,  if  not  quite,  spent  its  rage  in  Holland 
before  Arminius  became  an  Arminian. 

And  now,  turning  to  the  martyr  Church,  what 
shall  be  said  of  the  theology  which  was  received, 
and  the  sufferings  that  were  endured  by  the  Hugue- 
nots ?  Of  the  former  it  were  enough  to  say,  that 
the  very  germ  of  the  Reformation  was  planted  in 
France  by  Leclerc  and  Farel ;  that  Calvin  dedicated 
his  Institutes  to  Francis  I.  as  containing  the  precise 


400  THE    TREE    KNOWU   BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

doctrines  preached  by  the  Reformers  in  the  king- 
dom ;  that  the  confession  of  the  French  Protestant 
Church  was  drawn  up  by  the  hand  of  the  same 
master,  and  was  little  more  than  an  epitome  of  his 
"  Institutes ;"  and  that  as  late  as  the  year  preceding 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  the  National 
Synod  sat  under  the  presidency  of  Beza,  who  was 
second  only  to  Calvin  in  ability,  and  not  inferior  to 
him  in  attachment  to  the  Augustinian  doctrines. 
The  story  of  their  sufferings  should  begin  with  the 
punishment,  in  1523,  of  Leclerc,  the  proto-martyr 
of  France.  It  should  describe  the  fete  of  Paris,  in 
January,  1535,  when  Francis  I.  closed  the  festivities 
of  the  day  by  suspending  six  Protestants  from  a 
beam,  which  was  so  nicely  balanced  that  its  motion 
plunged  the  sufferers  successively  and  repeatedly 
into  a  blazing  furnace,  until  they  were  destroyed. 
It  should  relate  how  Henry  II.,  amidst  the  tourna- 
ments and  illuminations  which  graced  his  coro- 
nation, passed  from  place  to  place  to  regale  himself 
with  the  mortal  agonies  of  men  dying  for  the  faith. 
It  should  also  describe  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartho- 
lomew, turning  the  Seine  into  blood,  choking  the 
current  of  the  Rhone  with  the  bodies  of  the  slain, 
and  awakening  Te  Deums  and  merry  cannonades  on 
the  banks  of  the  Tiber.  Thousands  were  buried 
alive  in  dungeons.  Some  were  tortured,  and  then 
delivered,  so  that  women  received,  as  it  were,  their 
dead  raised  to  life  again ;  others  were  tortured,  not 
accepting  deliverance,  that  they  might  obtain  a 
better  resurrection.  They  were  burned,  they  were 
scourged,  were  gashed  with  knives,  were  branded, 
were  hanged,  were   drowned,  were  slain  with  the 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.   D.  401 

sword.  But  let  me  not  wound  your  sensibilities 
with  these  details.  I  willingly  turn  from  them,  if 
nothing  more  be  needed  to  identify  our  theology 
with  the  sufferings  endured  in  all  lands  by  those  of 
whom  the  world  was  not  worthy. 

In  the  seventh  place,  our  theology  developes  the 
elements  of  an  expanding  and  aggressive  Christianity. 

A  doctrinal  treatment  of  this  part  of  the  case 
would  demonstrate  that  a  church,  which  incorporates 
into  its  inner  life  an  intelligent  faith  in  the  fixed 
decrees  of  God,  must  become,  by  the  necessity  of  its 
nature,  a  missionary  church ;  one  of  these  decrees, 
as  declared  by  the  Son  of  God,  being  that  the  hea- 
then shall  be  given  to  him  for  his  inheritance,  and 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession. 
Indeed,  our  doctrines  are,  in  a  twofold  sense,  divinely 
adapted  to  this  work ;  as  dwelling  in  the  bosom  of 
the  church,  they  sustain  an  intense  and  exalted  life, 
even  the  life  of  God,  urging  his  people  to  spread  the 
everlasting  gospel  throughout  the  earth;  as  termi- 
nating on  the  world,  they  are  clothed  with  a  tran- 
scendent and  mighty  power,  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation. 

The  actual  progress  of  Christ's  kingdom,  under 
the  promulgation  of  these  doctrines,  confirms  every 
word  that  has  now  been  uttered.  This  theology 
entered  Geneva,  and  in  the  space  of  thirty  years 
caused  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  God,  and  the  re- 
mainder it  restrained.  In  France  it  made  such 
headway  against  unrelaxing  and  unrelenting  perse- 
cution, that  within  sixty  years  from  its  introduction 
into  the  kingdom,  the  National  Synod  had  under 

its  charge  more  than  two  thousand  churches,  the 

27 


402  TIIE    TREE    KNOWN    BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

greater  part  of  these  being  furnished  with  two  min- 
isters, and  some  of  them  with  five  or  six ;  and  not 
a  few  of  the  congregations  numbering  more  than  ten 
thousand  communicants.  Entering  Holland,  Eng- 
land, Scotland  and  Poland,  it  subdued  kingdoms, 
"  wrought  righteousness  and  obtained  the  promises." 
Having  been  planted  on  this  continent,  it  is  the  ac- 
cepted faith — though  in  some  instances  less  purely 
and  rigidly  held  than  we  could  desire — of  deno- 
minations numbering,  in  the  aggregate,  six  thou- 
sand ministers,  seven  thousand  five  hundred  con- 
gregations, and  eight  hundred  thousand  communi- 
cants. 

The  history  of  its  missionary  undertakings  is  not 
less  remarkable.  Our  brethren  of  the  English  church 
are  about  to  celebrate  the  jubilee  of  the  Society  for 
the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  foreign  parts.  Yet 
this  oldest  Protestant  Missionary  Association  on 
earth  received  its  charter  from  William  III.,  who 
was  orthodox  after  the  Synod  of  Dort.  The  enter- 
prise of  foreign  missions,  in  this  country,  received 
its  earliest  impulse  in  a  college,  the  theology  of 
which  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  soon  afterwards, 
our  own  Griffin  assumed  its  Presidency. 

The  zeal  for  Domestic  Missions  originated  almost 
simultaneously  in  our  own  General  Assembly,  and  in 
churches  of  whose  faith,  at  the  time,  the  Saybrook 
Platform  and  the  Shorter  Catechism  were  the  expo- 
nents. The  diffusive  tendencies  of  our  theology  are 
still  further  indicated  by  the  missionary  schemes  of 
the  Scottish  churches,  established  and  dissenting; 
the  Boards  of  our  own  church ;  and  the  voluntary 
societies  sustained  by  brethren  of  other  names,  who 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  403 

profess  our  faith  in  the  "substance,"  if  not  in  the 
"system  of  doctrine." 

But  it  may  be  thought  that  the  Arminian  divinity, 
as  preached  by  John  Wesley,  has  developed  a  type 
of  Christianity  no  less  diffusive  than  our  own.  Now, 
while  we  may  not  conceal  the  profound  conviction 
that  our  own  theology,  even  when  it  differs  from 
Wesley's,  is  the  theology  of  the  Bible,  yet  we  would 
do  all  homage  to  the  vital  truths  which  that  great 
man  adopted  into  his  system  of  faith,  and  to  the 
zeal  and  success  with  which  he  and  his  disciples 
have  proclaimed  them.  But  the  progress  of  this 
system  raises  several  questions  of  immense  impor- 
tance. One  of  these  respects  the  peculiar  type  of 
piety  which  it  developes.  On  that  question  I  do 
not  propose  to  enter.  Another  question  touches  the 
elements  of  its  power.  It  might  be  clearly  shown, 
as  I  humbly  conceive,  that  its  past  success  is  to  be 
referred  not  to  those  doctrines  which  are  peculiar  to 
itself,  but  to  those  which  are  common  to  both  theo- 
logies ;  not  to  its  denials  respecting  election,  effica- 
cious grace,  and  perseverance,  but  to  its  utterance 
concerning  original  sin,  justification,  and  regenera- 
tion. 

A  third  inquiry  relates  to  the  continued  and  fu- 
ture efficiency  of  modern  Arminianism.  Is  it  a  per- 
manent, redeeming  power  on  earth  ?  On  this  part 
of  the  case  I  take  leave,  without  intending  any  thing 
disrespectful  towards  brethren  of  other  persuasions, 
to  make  a  few  suggestions. 

It  is  now  only  a  few  years  over  a  century  since 
Wesley  began  his  career.  A  religious  system  ma- 
tures slowly.     The  truths  asserted  may,  for  a  long 


404  THE    TREE    KNOWN  BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

period,  hold  in  check  the  serious  errors  with  which 
they  are  combined.  The  errors,  if  not  eliminated, 
will  at  last  work  out  the  dissolution  of  the  system. 
It  may  indeed  outlast  many  generations,  but  what  are 
even  ages  to  the  life  of  a  true,  permanent  theology  ? 
It  is  to  be  remembered,  also,  that  the  Arminian 
scheme  has  yet  to  be  reduced  to  a  systematic  ami 
logical  form.  Where  are  its  written  formularies, 
pushing  boldly  forth,  to  their  final  and  inevitable 
conclusions,  all  its  doctrines  touching  predestination, 
free-will,  and  efficacious  grace  ?  We  have  its  brief 
and  informal  creed  in  some  five-and-twenty  articles; 
but  where  is  its  complete  confession  of  faith  in  thirty 
or  forty  chapters  ?  Where  is  its  larger  catechism  ? 
Nav,  where  is  even  its  shorter  catechism  ?  Where 
is  its  whole  body  of  divinity,  from  under  the  hand 
of  a  master,  sharply  defining  its  terms,  accurately 
stating  its  belief,  laying  down  the  conclusions  logi- 
cally involved  therein,  trying  these  conclusions  no 
less  than  their  premises  by  the  Word  of  God,  refut- 
ing objections,  and  adjusting  all  its  parts  into  con- 
sistent and  systematic  whole  ?*  It  has  furnished  us 
indeed  with  some  detached  negations  and  philoso- 

*  Without  disparaging  the  ability  displayed  in  the  "  Theological 
Institutes"  of  the  eminent  Wesleyan  divine,  Richard  Watson,  we 
may  suggest,  that  the  points  at  issue  between  the  Arminian  theo- 
logy and  our  own,  are  not  discussed  in  that  work  with  the  tho- 
roughness, the  rigid  and  penetrating  analysis,  and  the  scientific 
order  which  are  displayed  in  other  parts  of  the  book,  and  which 
are  demanded  at  the  present  time.  Of  the  Catechisms  No.  I.  and 
No.  II.,  "  compiled  and  published  by  the  British  Conference," 
we  may  remark,  that  these  manuals  contain  few  allusions,  much 
less  any  explicit  and  dogmatic  propositions,  touching  debated 
points,  corresponding  to  Questions  and  Answers  20,  80,  36,  etc.,  in 
our  Shorter  Catechism. 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  405 

phical  theories.  We  have,  for  example,  its  flat  de- 
nial of  our  doctrine  of  predestination;  but  has  it  to 
this  day  met,  for  itself,  the  problem  of  foreknowledge 
infinite  by  a  more  plausible  solution  than  the  cele- 
brated sophism,  that  although  God  has  the  capacity 
of  foreknowing  all  things,  he  chooses  to  foreknow 
only  some  things  ?  We  have,  also,  its  notion  of  the 
freedom  of  the  will,  wherein  there  was  supposed  to 
be  the  germ  of  a  systematic  Arminianism ;  but  this 
budding  promise  was  long  since  nipped  by  the  un- 
timely frost  of  Jonathan  Edwards'  logic.  It  is  clear 
that  an  exposition  of  this  theology,  which  shall  sat- 
isfy the  logical  consciousness,  is  indispensable  to  its 
perpetuity;  otherwise  it  cannot  take  possession  of 
educated  and  disciplined  minds — educated  by  the 
Word  and  Spirit  of  God,  and  disciplined  to  exact 
analysis  and  argument ;  otherwise,  again,  although 
it  may  exert  a  temporary  influence,  it  will  retire  be- 
fore advancing  spiritual  and  intellectual  culture.  It 
is  also  clear  that  the  first  century  of  its  existence  has 
not  produced  that  exposition.  Another  century  may 
demonstrate  that  such  a  production  is  impossible,  by 
showing  that  the  logical  and  scriptural  element  is  not 
in  the  Arminian  system ;  that  the  law  of  affinity  and 
chrystallization  is  wanting  to  its  disjointed  princi- 
ples ;  that  this  theology,  combining  many  precious 
truths,  and  many  capital  errors,  resembles  a  mingled 
mass  of  diamonds  and  fragments  of  broken  glass  and 
broken  pottery,  which  no  plastic  skill  of  man  or 
power  of  fire  can  mould  into  a  single  transparent, 
unclouded,  many-sided,  equal-sided  crystal,  its  angles 
all  beaming,  and  its  points  all  burning  with  light — 
a  Kohinoor  indeed ! 


406  THE    TREE    KNOWN    BY    ITS    FEUITS. 

Again,  it  is  to  be  seen  whether  this  divinity  has 
not,  on  the  one  hand,  an  inherent  tendency  to  pre- 
lacy, as  in  the  Anglican  Church,  and  on  the  other, 
an  inherent  repugnance  to  the  popular  element — the 
representation  of  the  people  in  church  assemblies — 
as  in  the  "Wesleyan  societies  in  England  and  this 
country.  If  the  case  be  so,  we  must  be  permitted 
to  doubt  both  its  soundness  and  its  permanency. 

Still  further,  it  remains  to  be  determined  whether 
this  divinity  can  abide  any  great  day  of  trial.  Are 
its  vital  energies  equal  to  such  a  work  for  God  as 
was  accomplished  by  another  theology  between  the 
birth  of  John  Calvin  and  that  of  James  Arminius  ? 
Could  it  survive  such  a  century  of  ceaseless  strug- 
gles as  that  which  culminated  in  the  English  revo- 
lution ?  Not  only  surviving  itself,  could  it  uphold 
a  great  nation  through  every  terrible  convulsion ; 
every  exterminating  war  and  treacherous  peace ;  its 
bow  abiding  in  strength ;  its  quiver  ever  full ;  smel- 
ling the  battle  afar  off,  with  the  thunder  of  the  cap- 
tains and  the  shouting ;  lifting  its  brow  and  its  war- 
cry  undaunted  in  the  dreadful  array ;  its  chariot 
plunging  into  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  yet  bear- 
ing aloft,  flaming  and  unextinguished,  its  two  sacred 
torches — even  the  truth,  man's  heritage  in  the 
Church,  and  liberty,  his  heritage  in  the  State  ?  And 
then  is  that  theology  equal  to  the  task  of  exiling 
itself  to  another  and  distant  continent,  planting  there 
two  new  commonwealths,  the  spiritual  and  the  civil, 
both  free,  each  separate  from  the  other,  and  each  in- 
dependent of  every  power  on  earth  besides ;  pene- 
trating the  vast  interior ;  founding  powerful  States 
and  prosperous,  churches  under  every  latitude,  from 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  407 

the  frozen  to  the  burning  zone,  and  under  every  me- 
ridian, from  our  own  resounding  sea  to  the  golden 
shores  of  the  "West  ?  Let  the  future  age  solve  these 
momentous  problems,  and  with  them  every  question, 
touching  both  the  Arminian  theology  and  our  own, 
as  permanent  or  transient,  as  vital  or  decaying. 

Here  we  close  our  inquiries  into  the  developments 
of  our  theology.  But  before  retiring  from  this  vast 
and  unexhausted  theme,  we  should  give  attention  to 
some  reflections  suggested  both  by  our  subject  and 
the  present  occasion.  The  teaching  and  ruling  Pres- 
byters, in  whose  presence  I  stand,  are  about  to  con. 
stitute  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  To  this  judicature  belong  high  spiritual 
powers,  and  its  deliberations  are  of  subjects  infinitely 
momentous.  Yet  the  most  of  these  may  be  reduced 
to  three  general  issues ;  and  I  take  leave,  in  the 
close  of  this  discourse,  to  indicate  the  bearings  of 
our  subject  on  each  of  these. 

It  belongs  to  the  General  Assembly,  in  the  first 
place,  to  conserve  the  accepted  theology  of  the  Church. 
The  results  of  the  foregoing  discussion  apply  with 
irresistible  force  to  this  part  of  our  official  duty. 
"What  are  the  fruits  of  this  theology?  At  least 
these  seven  :  an  exalted  type  of  spiritual  life,  a  free 
church  polity,  a  simple  and  spiritual  method  of  wor- 
ship, high  intellectual  vigour,  civil  liberty,  the  pa- 
tience of  martyrs  and  confessors,  and  the  force  of  an 
expanding  and  aggressive  Christianity.  From  each 
of  these  particulars  springs  an  argument,  pleading 
with  us,  most  persuasively,  to  contend  earnestly  for 
the  faith  once  delivered  unto  the  saints.  Each  of 
these  is  a  blessing  and  a  heritage,  and,  taken  together, 


408  THE    TREE    KNOWN   BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

they  compose  our  whole  heritage  of  blessings.  Our 
love  for  the  fruitage  must  measure  our  zeal  in  be- 
half of  the  parent  stock.  Let  it  come  into  the  ears 
of  all  men,  every  where,  that  we  cannot  give  up  our 
theology ;  we  can  spare  none  of  its  peculiarities,  not 
one  of  its  "five  points ;"  no,  not  one.  We  are  jeal- 
ous even  for  the  terms  in  which  its  truths  are  con- 
veyed. When  the  discourse  is  of  our  relation  to  the 
sin  of  Adam,  we  retain  the  word  imputation,  even 
with  the  guilt  it  implies,  lest  we  lose  the  word,  and, 
with  the  word,  the  blessing  it  speaks  of  when  we 
describe  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  We  keep  our 
hold  upon  the  terms  guilt,  condemnation,  and  pun- 
ishment, lest  we  lose  our  hold  upon  the  terms  right- 
eousness, justification,  and  propitiation.  We  adhere 
to  the  expression  "original  sin,"  lest  men  conclude 
that  the  phrase  having  disappeared  from  our  ser- 
mons, the  thing  has  ceased  out  of  their  hearts. 
These  terms  may  be  condemned  as  antiquated,  but 
they  express  ancient  truths.  An  old  oaken,  iron- 
bound  casket  is  quite  suitable  to  the  crown  jewels 
of  the  oldest  kingdom  on  earth,  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness. 

It  belongs,  secondly,  to  this  supreme  tribunal  to 
cherish  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church. 

We  should  ever  bear  in  mind  that  vital  piety  is 
of  the  very  substance  of  faith  in  our  theology.  The 
assent  of  the  understanding  to  our  doctrines,  as  clear 
deductions  from  the  Word,  is  not  necessarily  a  faith 
in  the  doctrines  themselves ;  it  may  be  no  more 
than  a  faith  in  the  processes  of  an  impregnable  logic. 
We  are  not  saved  by  receiving  our  catechisms  as 
true,  nor  even  by  believing  in  justification  by  faith, 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D   D.  409 

but  by  believing  in  Christ.  Ours  is  the  high  office 
to  conserve  our  theology ;  but  this  we  can  do  in  no 
other  way  than  by  cherishing  in  the  Church  the 
spirit  of  genuine  and  unaffected  piety.  We  should 
give  earnest  heed  that  we  do  not  allow  other  senti- 
ments to  take  the  place  of  that  in  our  hearts.  Let 
us  beware  of  the  Churchmanship,  which  is  the  token 
of  bigotry,  as  distinguished  from  the  charity  which 
is  the  bond  of  perfectness.  A  selfish  love  of  the 
Church,  as  our  Church,  is  possible ;  an  unholy  pride 
in  its  numbers,  and  learning,  and  wealth,  and  influ- 
ence, and  moral  power,  is  possible ;  liberality  to  our 
Boards,  because  they  enlarge  our  borders,  and  so 
give  greater  consequence  to  ourselves,  as  Presbyte- 
rians, is  possible  ;  a  zeal  for  our  polity  as  merely 
republican  and  free,  while  it  is  compact  and  phalanx- 
like, is  possible ;  nay,  these  are  sins  that  do  easily 
beset.  Let  our  theology  teach  us  better  things  than 
these.  Let  it  plant  in  our  hearts  that  sweet  and 
blessed  mystery,  the  life  that  is  hidden  with  Christ 
in  God.  Let  it  move  us  to  cherish,  in  all  our  com- 
municants, the  divine  life,  which  shall  lead  them  to 
abhor  their  sins,  to  cleave  to  the  Saviour,  to  frequent 
the  closet  and  the  family  altar,  to  love  the  house  of 
prayer  and  the  communion  of  the  saints — a  life 
which  shall  generate  in  their  bosoms  an  intelligent, 
perpetual  zeal  for  the  honour  of  God  in  the  salvation 
of  souls — a  life  which  shall  thirst  after  God,  even 
the  living  God. 

Our  subject  enforces,  not  less  powerfully,  the  third 
great  duty  laid  on  this  high  judicatory,  even  the  duty 
of  giving  to  the  Gospel  the  icidest  possible  extension. 
We  have   seen  that  our  Church  derives  from  its 


410  THE    TREE    KNOWN    BY    ITS   FRUITS. 

theology  the  capacities  of  a  free,  rapid,  and  world 
wide  expansion.  But  why  does  not  the  Church 
experience  such  an  expansion  ?  It  has  accomplished 
something  ;  why  has  it  not  done  immeasurably  more 
for  the  cause  of  the  Master?  Through  its  four 
Boards,  it  has  given  no  small  extension  to  the  truth 
at  home  and  abroad;  why  has  it  not  planted  ten 
churches  in  this  country  where  now  there  is  only 
one;  and  why  has  it  not  preached  the  Gospel  in 
every  land,  yea,  to  every  creature  under  heaven? 
Whether  we  measure  the  spiritual  forces  with  which 
our  doctrines  are  clothed,  or  trace  out  their  proper 
developments,  or  examine  the  history  of  their 
achievements,  we  are  conducted  to  the  humiliating, 
but  certain  conclusion,  that  the  energies  now  dor- 
mant in  our  church  immensely  exceed  those  that 
are  in  action.  We  seem  to  resemble,  by  a  strange 
anomaly,  both  the  faithful  and  the  unfaithful  ser- 
vant in  the  parable  ;  the  faithful,  to  whom  the  Mas- 
ter gave  the  ten  pounds,  and  the  unfaithful,  who 
went  and  hid  his  Lord's  money. 

The  question  forces  itself  upon  our  consciences, 
why  does  not  a  church,  which  rests  on  such  a  foun- 
dation, fulfil  more  perfectly  its  office?  Let  the 
judgment,  which  this  inquiry  brings  to  the  house  of 
God,  begin  at  the  pulpit.  Does  the  ministry  faith- 
fully preach  our  peculiar  doctrines?  It  has  been 
thought  that  such  preaching  is  uninteresting  to  the 
hearers ;  or  if  not  wearisome,  disbelieved ;  or  if  not 
rejected,  unpopular;  or  if  not  unpopular,  practically 
powerless.  But  what  injurious  mistakes  are  these  ! 
Our  doctrines  uninteresting?  When  clearly  ex- 
pounded, they  compel  the  attention  of  men.     In- 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  411 

credible  ?  They  master  the  understanding  of  not  a 
few  by  the  force  of  a  complete  and  irresistible  dem- 
onstration. Unpopular?  They  are  endowed  with 
a  sort  of  fascination,  constraining  those  who  heard 
them  yesterday  with  fixed  aversion,  to  hear  them 
to-day  with  profound  attention.  This  preaching 
powerless  ?  Let  no  man  say  that  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  a  church  which  has  gathered  into  a  single 
grave  yard  the  ashes  of  Samuel  Davies,  Archibald 
Alexander,  and  Jonathan  Edwards ;  the  first  mem- 
orable for  the  awakening  power  of  his  sermons ;  the 
second  trying  the  spirits  and  discerning  •  even  the 
thoughts  of  our  rising  ministry;  and  the  third 
preaching  a  sermon  on  the  doctrine  of  election, 
which  was  mighty  in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and 
delivering  another,  so  instinct  with  the  terrors  of  the 
Lord  as  to  bring  his  audience  to  their  feet,  and  com- 
pel the  preacher,  who  sat  behind  him  in  the  pulpit, 
to  start  up  with  the  exclamation,  "Mr.  Edwards, 
Mr.  Edwards,  is  not  God  merciful  too  ?"  The  sep- 
ulchres of  these  men  are  with  us  until  this  day, 
and  so  is  their  theology;  but  where  the  spirit  of 
profound  meditation  and  importunate  prayer  with 
which  they  prepared  their  sermons?  Where  is 
their  vehemency  and  tenderness  of  utterance? 
Where  their  annihilating  reply  to  the  disputers  of 
this  world,  their  masterly  appeal  to  the  understand- 
ing, and  their  onset  on  the  conscience  ? 

And  then  let  the  judgment  pass  to  our  ruling- 
elders  and  deacons,  to  all  our  two  hundred  thousand 
communicants,  men,  women,  parents,  children,  mas- 
ters, servants,  all.  Where  are  the  people  who  are 
mighty  in  prayer,  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 


412  THE   TREE   KNOWN   BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

Why  are  revivals  of  religion  rather  diminishing, 
than  multiplying,  in  frequency  and  power?  Who 
among  the  rich  give  heed  to  the  apostolical  charge 
to  "do  good,  to  be  rich  in  good  works,  ready  to  dis- 
tribute, willing  to  communicate  ?"  Who  among  the 
poor  imitate  her  example,  which  is  spoken  of  in  all 
the  world  where  this  gospel  is  preached  ?  Why 
does  our  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  entreat  the 
Church  in  vain  to  send  the  bread  of  life  to  starving 
millions  ?  Why  is  our  Board  of  Domestic  Missions 
fainting  under  pecuniary  embarrassments  in  the  very 
heat  and  stress  of  its  great  work?  Why  is  our 
Board  of  Education  suffered  to  deplore,  from  year 
to  year,  the  want  of  candidates  for  the  sacred  office  ? 
Why  does  not  our  Board  of  Publication  expound 
and  vindicate  our  faith  in  every  mansion  in  the  city, 
and  in  every  log  cabin  in  the  wilderness  ?  Here  is 
our  theology,  not  only  embalmed  in  our  standards, 
but  received  into  our  hearts.  Here  are  its  forces 
and  its  developments,  many  and  mighty.  Here  are 
ministers  and  churches,  and  missions  and  schools, 
and  colleges  and  seminaries  of  sacred  learning.  Here 
are  all  the  elements  of  a  redeeming  power  on  earth, 
a  paramount,  permanent,  expanding  power.  Why 
do  we  fail  to  realize  its  efficacy  ? 

This  venerable  court  of  Jesus  Christ  is,  by  divine 
appointment,  the  tribunal  to  which  such  inquiries 
belong.  And  not  less  appropriate  to  them  is  the 
place  of  its  present  deliberations.  Nearly  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-seven  years  ago,  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantz  drove  from  the  kingdom  of  France 
more  than  five  hundred  thousand  Huguenots.  They 
fled  to  all  the  Protestant  States  of  Europe,  to  Eng- 


E.    P.    HUMPHREY,    D.    D.  413 

land,  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  to  the  shores 
of  the  Western  Continent.  Invited  by  the  genial 
climate  of  the  South  to  the  infant  colony  of  Caro- 
lina, large  numbers  of  these  exiled  people  of  God 
found  rest,  some  on  the  borders  of  the  Santee,  and 
others  on  the  banks  of  the  Cooper  river.  The  latter 
company  built  their  house  of  worship  in  a  little  vil- 
lage, a  few  miles  distant,  called  Charleston.  Thither, 
on  the  Lord's  day,  they  were  borne  on  the  bosom 
of  the  river,  by  the  gentle  flow  of  its  waters,  or  the 
motion  of  the  oar,  or  the  ebbing  of  the  tide.  In 
their  forest  homes,  and  in  their  humble  sanctuary, 
they  wept  for  joy  as  the  voice  of  their  supplications 
and  the  melody  of  their  songs,  rising  upon  the  tran- 
quil and  fragrant  air,  stood  contrasted  with  the  car- 
nage and  terror  from  which  they  had  fled.  This  is 
the  ancient  Carolina.  This,  too,  is  Charleston.  Near 
us  is  the  site  of  their  first  house  of  prayer.  Yonder 
is  the  Cooper  river.  There  are  the  fields  in  which 
they  set  up  their  dwellings  and  domestic  altars. 
There  the  rich  and  odorous  vegetation  of  the  early 
summer  repeats  for  us  the  life  it  lived  for  them. 
Around  us  lies  their  dust,  awaiting  the  resurrection 
to  meet  their  kindred  dust,  as  that  too  shall  rise 
from  the  graves  of  murdered  saints  beyond  the  seas. 
Here,  in  this  presence,  are  their  children.  The 
blood  which  moistened  the  beautiful  valleys  of  Lan- 
guedoc  and  Tours,  which  stained  the  waters  of  every 
river,  and  the  pavements  of  every  city,  from  the 
English  Channel  to  the  Mediterranean,  now  runs  in 
the  veins  of  those  with  whom  we  worship  God  this 
morning.  With  what  unanimity  these  adhere  to 
that  ancient  faith,  a  stranger  may  not  presume  to 


414  THE    TREE   KNOWN   BY   ITS   FRUITS. 

inquire.  But  they  are  our  witnesses,  this  day,  that 
in  faith,  order  and  worship,  our  Church  is  identical 
with  their  own  ancestral  Church  in  its  pure  and 
heroic  day.  Not  these  alone ;  for  here  are  they 
also,  whose  fathers  brought  hither,  many  genera- 
tions ago,  the  living  and  fruit-bearing  stock  of  Pres- 
byterianism.  Let  these,  our  own  brethren,  par- 
takers with  us  of  the  root  and  fatness  of  the  olive 
tree,  and  let  believers  of  every  name,  and  them  who 
believe  not,  discover  in  our  proceedings,  and  in  us, 
no  spirit  of  contention,  or  uncharitableness,  or  evil- 
speaking.  May  they  see  nothing  in  this  august 
council  but  a  pious  zeal  for  the  theology,  the  spi- 
rituality, and  the  extension  of  the  Church,  and  for 
the  glory  of  its  Eternal  King. 

Now,  fathers  and  brethren,  the  God  of  peace  that 
brought  again  from  the  dead  our  Lord  Jesus,  that 
great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of 
the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every 
good  work,  to  do  his  will,  working  in  you  that  which 
is  well-pleasing  in  his  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 


THE    END. 


